378 NOTES ON NATIVE FLORA OF NEW SOUTH WALES, IV., 



however, lUcay be noticed near Mount Hope, where it occurs 

 plentifully on a rounded porphyry hill known as Mount Allen; 

 while on Double Peak, only four miles away, but which is chiefly 

 of Silurian(?) slate formation, not a single She-oak can be found. 

 Another characteristic of the species is that it seems to select 

 spots on hills that are otherwise fairly clear, and it apparently 

 objects to grow in forests under the shelter of larger trees. In 

 this way it makes itself fairly conspicuous, and its rounded 

 pendulous form becomes a notable feature on some of these clear 

 and rather bald hill-tops. It is a prolific fruiter, some of the 

 trees being literally covered with cones (Plate xii.). 



Its qualities as a fodder plant are, however, so far as New 

 South Wales is concerned, causing it to be exterminated from 

 many of the western hills, and in some cases the only traces now 

 to be found consist of the large somewhat cylindrical cones, at 

 times up to two inches long, lying scattered about on the ground, 

 while the remaining stumps, with their conspicuous medullary 

 rays, are standing as sentinels beside the fallen and decaying 

 branches. 



Its very wide distribution over Western and Southern Aus- 

 tralia, including Tasmania, and its being now able to grow under 

 so many different conditions of climate, suggest that it is a 

 species of great antiquity, probably antedating the time when 

 Tasmania ceased to be connected with the mainland. 



Recently I found it growing over a small area on the Narra- 

 been Shale formation near Newport, at about a dozen miles north 

 of the entrance to Port Jackson; and this is the most northern 

 locality recorded for the species on the eastern coast of Australia. 



To thoroughly appreciate the significance of this discovery, it 

 is necessary to first understand the disposition of these Narrabeen 

 Beds. This formation consists of shales and sandstone which 

 were laid down as sediment in the early Triassic period. In its 

 upper part is a band of^ fine chocolate-coloured shales, and it 

 has been suggested by Professor David"*" that they have probably 



* Anniversary Address to the Royal Society of New South Wales, May, 

 1896. Journ. Proc. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales, xxx. 1896. 



