214 AuDAs, Recent Botanical Investigations. f 



Vict. Nat. 

 March 



Growing in the sand on the beach was a plant, Stackhoiisia 

 spatkiilata, which gave us some trouble to identify, owing to its 

 having formed succulent leaves through the presence of salt. 

 Abundantly conspicuous on sandy spots near the sea was 

 Kennedy a prostrata, or " Running Postman," so-called from its 

 flowers, which are usually bright crimson, but we came upon 

 some which were white. Other additions to the flora of the 

 Park found along the beach were Olearia (Aster) glutinosa. 

 Acacia longifolia, var. SophorcB, Helichrysum rosmarinifoliiun, 

 Sehcea albidiflora, and the introduced composite, Senecio 

 elegans. On the lagoons and watercourses in the vicinity of 

 Boys Creek we also reaped a rich harvest of new additions to 

 the flora. We found plants of aquatic and semi-aquatic 

 habits, such as Glyceria fiiiitans, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, H. 

 asiatica, Elodea verticillata, Myriophylkmi elatinoides, Carda- 

 mine parvifiora, Chara fragilis, Nitella gelatinosa, Nasturtium 

 officinale, and Potamogelon lucens. The latter is a submerged 

 plant, and, although mentioned in the '' Second Systematic 

 Census of Australian Plants" as found in Victoria, no specimens 

 of it were in the Australian collection of the National 

 Herbarium. 



To climb the steep hills on the return journey was a formid- 

 able undertaking, but it had to be accomplished, and, after 

 encountering considerable difficulty, we reached the open country 

 and camped for the night. Next day we proceeded by Darby 

 River to Fish Creek, and entrained for Melbourne, feeling 

 greatly pleased with the knowledge and specimens acquired 

 on this our third visit to the Promontory. 



It may be mentioned that the National Park, which contains 

 some 101,000 acres, or nearly i6o square miles, of very 

 diversified country, has now a recorded flora of just 600 species 

 of indigenous plants. The parts traversed on the present 

 occasion may be easily made out on the map of the Promontory 

 published with the Naturalist of February, 1909. 



Broadbent's Map of Victoria. — The 191 1 edition of this 

 pubhcation is a great improvement on its predecessors. It is 

 now printed in three colours, and en a larger scale. The map 

 of Central Victoria, in the last edition, has been published 

 separately, with notes on various holiday resorts, as " Map and 

 Guide to Fifty Miles Round Melbourne," and as such will be a 

 valuable help to naturalists and others when planning their 

 outings. 



