216 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



very conspicuous yellow blooms were those of swamp plants, the 

 shrubby " Golden Spray," Viminaria deniidata, forming belts 

 along parts of many creeks, and mingling with other marsh 

 plants, while the herbaceous Limnwuthemum exaltatinn, the so- 

 called Yellow Swamp-Lily (N.O. Gentianeas) was seen here at its 

 best, acres of shallow swamp being filled almost exclusively with 

 it, but with here and there a purplish Pattersonia longiscapa 

 giving a dash of complementary colour. 



It would be hard to find a prettier floral scene than that 

 presented by a dark-green bank of tea-tree, and from it, reaching 

 to our feet, a terraced series formed by, first, the tall, graceful 

 " Golden Spray," next, the shorter white-flowering Veronica 

 derwentia, and for a foreground the grass flecked with large 

 golden everlastings and the purple blooms of Indigofera avstral.is 

 or Hovea heterojiliijlla. 



White-rayed blooms of Helichrysum Uucojjsi'lium dotted the 

 slopes, and the Wiiite Iris, DijAarrhena morcea, grew well, 

 not only on the moist lowlands near the southern shores of 

 Corner Basin and in sheltered lower valleys, but also ascended a 

 considerable distance up the drier slopes. These, with the 

 Veronica already mentioned, Epacris imjirensa, E. ohiiisi/olia, and 

 Kunzea corijolia, were the only white or almost white flowers 

 worth mentioning. 



In the deeper marshes the prevailing green of other seasons is 

 at Christmas relieved by the rich brown flowers or fruits of various 

 " sedges " and grass-like plants, flecked here and there with the 

 rich yellow of Viminaria denudata, the creamy flowers of 

 Melaleuca squarrosa, the swamp "bottle-brush," having appeared 

 earlier. 



It will be seen on reference to the list which follows that, as 

 might have been expected, the order Compositse is more strongly 

 represented than any other, twenty species of composite plants 

 being noted ; of ferns, fourteen species are recorded ; while 

 Leguminoss has thirteen species, representing twelve genera. 

 Four genera of Myrtacese present eleven species in all ; and, as 

 the proportion of species to an order diminishes, we reach a 

 group of orders — Orchide^e, Gramineae, and Cyperacese — each 

 with seven species, but with varying numbers of genera. 

 Epacridae and Liliacec'e give equal results — six species each. 

 There were five species of campanulate plants, while two 

 Buttercups and two Clematis made a total of four species for the 

 Ranunculaceae, Equal in having only three species noted are 

 the following seven orders : — Casuarinese, Salsolaceae, CandoUea- 

 cese, Irideae, Scrophularineas, Labiatae, and Fluviales. Twelve 

 orders were represented by only two species each, while twenty- 

 seven orders presented only a single genus each with only one 

 species. 



