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A CONTRIBUTION TO THE PHYTO-GEOGRAPHY OF 



BELLENDEN-KER. 



I. INTRODUCTIOX. Br L. S. Gibbs, F.L.S. 



• In March 1914, proceeding from Dutch N.W. New Guinea to 

 Sydney via Macassar, I stopped at Cairns in N. Queensland, for the 

 purpose not only of ascending Bellenden Ker, 5400', the highest 

 mountain in the country, but also of spending some weeks at Kuranda, 

 at 1000', on the Barron River, to enable me to form some idea of the 

 vegetation in this outlying portion of the Malayan- Papuan floral 

 region. 



Both these localities had been visited by Dr. K. Domin, of Prague, 

 dm*ing his long stay for botano-geographical work in N. Queensland. 

 I was indebted to him for a most interesting account of the fine 

 mixed forest, of which in present times the heavy rainfall permits the 

 development in this comjiaratively small N.E. corner of the Australian 

 continent, but which," as Domin rightly states, " is only a small 

 remainder of a flora spread formerly over large areas, now mostly 

 sunk under the sea " *. 



As March is the height of the summer or rainy season in these 

 parts, it was not considered a very propitious time for work on 

 Bellenden Ker, all previous ascents having been made in the winter 

 or dry season. The relatively high number of new species obtained 

 is possibly attributable to this fact. 



A spell of fine weather prevailing at the time decided me to pro- 

 ceed at once to Harvey's Creek in the Mulgrave valley, the base from 

 which the highest or central peak of the Bellenden -Ker range is most 

 accessible. Here, the enterprising landlord of the local hotel very 

 kindly making all arrangements for me, I was enabled to start the 

 thu'd morning after my arrival, accompanied by Claude, the small son 

 of the house, a very enthusiastic companion, and four natives or 

 " blacks " as they are generally but not very correctly called, to act as 

 guides and carry tent, provisions and possible botanical booty. This 

 last, owing to the sterile nature of the granitic shallow soil, and con- 

 sequently limited character of the vegetation, proved very much less 

 than my Papuan experiences had led me to anticipate. The altitude 

 of the mountain being low, and a break in the fine weather to be 

 expected to any moment, arrangements were made to sj^end onW one 

 night on the summit. 



The forest round the base had all been worked through in the 

 interests of the lumber industry, the cutting out of the finest trees 

 resulting in a vigorous young sapling upgrowth of miscellaneous 

 character, through which old logging tracts s^Dread in all directions, 

 enabling horses and cattle to graze through. 



Further on, up the gradual lower slopes of this range, of which 

 the poor and sterile character of the soil surprised me, the crowns of 

 the slender forest trees just meet overhead, wdth a light sapling sub- 

 staging, quite easy to penetrate. Here the undergrowth consists 



* Karel Domin, " Queensland's Plant Associations " in Proc. Roy. Soc. 

 Queensland, xxiii. 72. 



J0UR>rAL OF B0TA>'T.- 



