120 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



part of the Don River. The rival attractions of the glen and of 

 " Malleson's Look-out " — some three miles further along the road, 

 a little over the saddle, and looking towards Healesville — causes us 

 a little hesitation, but during our halt for lunch the discovery of 

 some fine moss, Dawsonia superha, near the road, and some 

 orchids, GhilogJottis gunnii, on the trunks of the Valley Tree Fern, 

 Dicksonia billardieri, settles the matter, and we keep to the glen. 

 There is a broad track cut for a considerable distance by timber- 

 getters, who found in the stately forest trees, Erijcalyptxis 

 amygdalina, &c., excellent material for city sewerage slabs and 

 palings. 



" Malleson's Glen " is a luxuriant tangle of beautiful trees, 

 associated with an undergrowth of shrubs and tree-ferns, with 

 dwarf ferns, mosses, and lichens scattered between or growing in 

 epiphytal beauty. Overhead the Beech, Fagus curndnghami, 

 its green foliage turning from brown and gold at the branch tips, 

 mingles with the modest but graceful and aromatic Sassafras, 

 Atherosperma tnoschatum, the Native Pepper Tree, Driniys 

 aromatica, the " Blanketwood," iSenecio bedfordii. These, with 

 Hedycarya cunninghami, and the handsome but nasty-smelling 

 Zieria smithii, form the main shade of this splendid fernery, 

 wherein may be found a large variety of smaller ferns, such 

 as Pteris incisa, Aspidiinn aculeatum, A. capense, A. decom- 

 posilum, Lomaria diacolor, L. Jtuviatilis, L. lanceolata, L. 

 capensis, Asplenium bidhijerum, A. umbrosinn^ &c., were found. 

 The orchids grew only on the upper parts of upright tree-fern 

 trunks, seeking the sha'^e of the crown of fronds, and the softer 

 woolly matter of the upper stem, and on the erect and recum- 

 bent fern trees the Victorian Staghorn Fern, Polypodium 

 pustulatum, and P. avstrale, cling affectionately, while some of 

 the trunks are almost hidden by the dense lace-like mat of 

 Hymenopliyllum tunbridgense and IVichomanes venosum. 



We creep up from the cool, damp fernery to the sunlit slope, 

 and find our ubiquitous friend, Goodenia ovata, the Native 

 Nettle, Vrtica incisa, and the Native Elderberry, Sambucus 

 gaudichaicdiana, commencing to fruit. Here and there on the 

 shade margin sprays and festoons of Clematis aristata show 

 conspicuously, and by the side of the track at least one fine 

 specimen of the Square Tree Fern, Osmunda barbara, with 

 short, thick trunk and magnificent dark green fronds, many 

 bearing ripe brick-red spores in great quantity. 



The beginning of November is too early for the fruiting 

 of the ferns in general. Except on Osnunda barbara, Dicksonia 

 billardieri, Polypodium. pustulatum, and P. australe, fruit 

 specimens were not obtained, though the fronds of Asplenium 

 bulbiferum, showed indications of spores, besides having 

 young plants developing at the tips. " Malleson's Glen " is 



