150 AuDAs, The Victorian Grampians. [v^r'xxtx- 



area many fine shrubs of Grevillea olcoides, Olive Grevillea, 

 were flowering handsomely, and Correa speciosa was met 

 with in red, pink, and green forms. 



The trip which I appreciated most was that to the famous 

 " Wild Flower Garden.'"' This covers a large area lying to 

 the east of Hall's Gap, and can be reached by various ways, 

 but the easiest is probably an old bush track branching south- 

 east from the main Stawell road, a short distance outside the 

 Gap. This path will lead flower-seekers through a veritable 

 paradise of beauty, and those who wander forth to gather 

 blossoms will be surfeited. Probably two hundred species 

 of flowering plants could be found in this area, many of them 

 peculiar to the Grampians, but it would be impossible in the 

 course of this article, which is not essentially botanical, to 

 deal satisfactorily with such a variety of flowers. The 

 botanist visiting here would soon become the fortunate 

 possessor of a well-filled vasculum. It is a matter for regret 

 that a recent bush-fire should have swept over some of this 

 lovely area and temporarily marred its beauty. The supreme 

 suitability of the locality for flowers was even borne out by 

 the prolific growth of cultivated varieties, for on the site of 

 an abandoned homestead daffodils and snowflakes bloomed 

 magnificently, and an extremely fine specimen of Acacia 

 decurrens, variety normalis, the Sydney Green Wattle, was 

 smothered in blooms, the limbs actually breaking with their 

 weight. A cultivated specimen of Callistemon coccineus, the 

 Red-flowering Bottle-brush, here also attained beautiful 

 development. By following the same track in its gradual 

 ascent, the " Mummy Rock, ' and another peculiar formation 

 known as the " Rockery," are passed. Around the base of 

 the latter rocks, the well-known Grampian plant 77/ry/'/o7izc/7c 

 Mitchelliana grew abundantly, and many young shrubs suit- 

 able for transplanting could be secured. It is very beautiful, 

 thrives well under cultivation, and its ornamental qualities 

 for parks and gardens are beginning to be appreciated. 

 Thence onwards the path leads to the top of " Boronia 

 Peak," which has been appropriately named, as the three 

 Boronias of the Grampians ail flourish upon it. Their per- 

 fume when blooming is delightful, and suggests that the 

 naming of places by such typical titles is one that should be 

 more frequently adopted. VVe have among our most lovely 

 scenery too many uneuphonious names, such as Devil's Gaps 

 and Hell's Gates, which places might otherwise bear the 

 name of some beautiful native plant growing upon them. 



An excursion to be greatly 1 ecommended, but which cannot 

 well be accomplished in one day, is a visit to Lake 

 Wartook and the M'Kenzie Falls on the other side of 

 the Mount Difticult Range. Visitors to these parts would 

 be well advised in devoting two or three days to the trip, and 



