Mar., I AuDAs, A Botanist in the Portland District. 1615 



available for settlement, and many blocks of fifty acres and 

 upwards have been disposed of. Portions of tfie land are 

 exceptionally good, l)eing of a dark peaty quality, while other 

 parts are much inferior. 



Taking the road to the south-west, leading towards Cape 

 Nelson, the picturesque lagoon which semicircles the town is 

 passed. It showed an abundant crop of rushes and reeds, 

 and among them many other aquatic plants. Some tine, 

 shapely trees of the Boobialla, Myopornm insnlare, and Acacia 

 lon^ifolia, var. soplwrce, lined tlie banks. Growing in the 

 lagoon were great ciuantitics of Giant Arrow-grass, Tri'^^lochiii 

 pvoccra, and Streaked Arrow-grass, T. striata — ^^the former, 

 where growing in deeji water, had ri])bon-like leaves from two 

 to three feet in length, and the dense flower-spikes were either 

 covered with pollen or contorted fruitlets ; also an abundance 

 of the Floating Pond Weed. Potanw^eton natans, was seen, with 

 its floating leaves and peculiar flower-heads just protruding 

 above the water. Near the edge Villarsia rcniformis 

 [Limnanthcinuin cxaltatum, F. v. M.), a plant with handsome 

 yellow-fringed bk)ssoms and round leaves, and Cot id a cor ono pi- 

 folia, with fleshy leaves and disc-like flowers, were equally 

 numerous, while near by the tall, shining plumes of the Common 

 Reed, Phragmites coinmunis, waved in the breeze. An inter- 

 esting featiu'e here was the large mound-like nests constructed 

 Ijy the Black Swans, Cygniis atrata, from the surrounding reeds, 

 &c.. where many of the birds were nesting, and some clutches 

 of yovuig birds were seen. 



Along the roadside, the introduced Large-flowered M'ood 

 Sorrel, Oxalis variabilis. Harlequin Flower, Sparaxis grandi- 

 flora, and Perennial Daisy. Bellis perennis. were growing by 

 the thousand, and almost completely carpeted the ground. 

 Although a good deal of the scrub land in this locality has 

 been divided into small holdings, and the beautiful flowering 

 })lants destroyed by fire in the act of clearing, there yet remain 

 some areas where the native flora may be seen in its original 

 beauty. The soil here is of a dark peaty nature, and in some 

 places of a sandy composition. Although it was somewhat 

 early for collecting, there were sufficient plants in flower to 

 enable one to form an opinion of what the display would be 

 later in the season. At first sight the flora of this locality gave 

 a similar impression to that of Sandringham, but here it was 

 taller and of a deeper green in shade. The shrubs chiefly com- 

 prised Grevillea aqiiifolium, Lencopogon Richei, Acacia Mitchelli, 

 Olearia {Aster) raninlosa, Persoonia juniperina, Hakea nodosa, 

 Leptospcrnimn niyrsinoides. Melaleuca squarrosa, M. gibbosa, 

 and Bossicea cinerea. In the open scrub-lands an abundance 

 of small flowers, such as Spyridium vexillifcrwn, Hibbcriia 



