io6 Campbell, A Census of Grampian Plants. [ q| 



Vict. Nat. 

 ctober 



The time is not far distant when more attention wiU be paid 

 to geological considerations in connection with plant lists. The 

 association of native plant life with soil, and therefore with 

 the mother rock that produced it, is not yet recognized in its 

 full importance. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that a definite 

 rock, producing a definite set of soil conditions, in turn ex- 

 presses itself in a definite type of plant-life, patent to all 

 observers. Therefore, associated with the publication of any 

 plant list there should be an introductory statement of the 

 features, both geological and geographical, of the area under 

 notice. 



The Grampian formation * lies in Western Victoria, about 

 meridian 142° 30', and between the 37th and 38th parallels, 

 in general shape much like that of a giant boomerang. Mount 

 William, the culminating point, rising 3,830 feet above sea 

 level, is on the bend, while one terminating point, Mount Zero, 

 is 32 miles N.N.W., and the other. Mount Sturgeon, is 28 miles 

 S.S.W. The formation embraces several series of ranges. The 

 northern half is the Difficult Range, the Grampians proper lie 

 much about the central position, while the Serra Range — 

 perhaps the most remarkable of all the series — runs from Mount 

 Rosea, behind Mount William, including ]\Iiddleton, D' Alton, 

 Lubra, and Frederick Peaks, to Mounts Abrupt and Sturgeon, 

 near Dunkeld. A score or more of unnamed peaks in this chain 

 rise 2,000 feet above the plains. West of the Serra is a 

 parallel range called the Victoria Range, while west of Mount 

 Difficult is the Black Range. Two separate outliers of the 

 same rock are Mount Dundas (west of Victoria Range) and 

 Mount Arapiles (near Natimuk). They are both about 20 miles 

 distant from the main mass. A tourist map at present in course 

 of compilation by the Lands Department will do much to open 

 up the district, and enable visitors to understand the topography, 

 which cannot be gained from the usual maps. 



The whole of this mountain system consists of sedimentary 

 rock of a sandstone nature. There may be much variety in 

 texture, from fine-grained freestone to coarse and rough sandstone 

 (sometimes with included lumps of quartz) ; but there is no shale 

 or slate. Bands of hardened quartzite are found in places. The 

 Grampian sandstones are thought to be of Devonian age, but 

 lithological nature and stratigraphical position are the only 

 grounds upon which this classification is based. The nature of 

 the deposits is such that fossil evidence has not been preserved to 

 us. The colouration of the rock is from yellowish-white to rich 

 reddish-brown ; but the prevailing soil is loose and sandy, from 

 whitish to nearly black in colour, according to the quantity of 



* See " Rambles Round the Grampians," Vict. Nat., xxvii. (1910), p. 31. 



