BY THE RET. J. E. TENISOX- WOODS, E.G.S. 77 



35 miles from the mouth of the stream which is all occupied by 

 a generally level country of gravel or volcanic soil. The latter 

 is wooded with thick forest, known here by the local name of 

 scrub, but as it is formed by high trees closely matted by vines 

 and creepers, it must not be confounded with what is termed 

 scrub in other colonies or even other places in the colony. The 

 mouth of the river is bordered by boulders of doleritic lava, not 

 very vesicular and but little decomposed. To the south there is 

 a small conical hill, three miles distant, which is entirely basaltic 

 and may be the source of the lava. All round the light house 

 there is a dense growth of Sorglium fulv7nn, Beauv., and it extends 

 over the open ground to the edge of the forest. It is a tall not 

 very stout gi-ass attaining sometimes six to eight feet high and 

 here makes the ground appear like a dried marsh. The panicles 

 are of a rich brown colour and very ornamental. The species 

 has not been hitherto recorded south of Keppel Bay. It is also 

 found in tropical Asia, from Ceylon to the Archipelago and in 

 South China and Japan. A closely allied genus — Cliriisopogon, 

 covers all the alluvial flats further up the river, this is Clirysopogon 

 parvifloincs, Benth., a species very widely distributed from 

 Carpentaria to Victoria. It is called here "scented grass" on 

 account of the peculiar smell emitted by the young flower heads 

 when rubbed between the hands. It is not esteemed as a fodder 

 plant. Bentham and Mueller say that it is probably found in 

 India and New Caledonia. 



Another marked feature of the banks of the Burnett on the 

 cleared ground is the abundance of Fhytolacca octandra, Linn., 

 this is closely allied to an American plant which has long been 

 cultivated in Europe and is known as the Mexican Yerbachina. 

 It has established itself pretty extensively in the neighbourhood 

 of Sydney and Melbourne, but I do not know that it has been 

 recorded from any part of Queensland. On the sides of the 

 Burnett it covers the cleared volcanic ground very thickly in 

 erect herbaceous plants from four to six feet high. It may be as 



