94 Excursion to Cheltenham. Fvof'^^xxxiil 



EXCURSION TO CHELTENHAM. 



Favoured by a fine afternoon, about forty members and 

 friends took part in the excursion to Cheltenham on Saturday, 

 7th October. The route followed was through the Cheltenham 

 Park, thence to the heathy ground beyond. Over fifty species 

 of shrubs and plants were noted in flower or fruit, of which the 

 following are worthy of mention : — The Myrrh Tea-tree, 

 Leftospermum myrsinoides, and the Coast Tea-tree, L. 

 IcBvigatum, were flowering in great profusion, as was also the 

 Wedding Bush, Ricinocarpiis pinifolius. The Blue Squill, 

 ChamcBScilla corymbosa, looked charming amongst the grass 

 and undergrowth. Of the Leguminosae, which is weU repre- 

 sented in the district, the Hairy Aotus, Aotus villosa, Gorse 

 Bitter Pea, Daviesia ulicina, Grey Parrot Pea, Dillwynia 

 cinerascens, and Late Black Wattle, Acacia mollissima, were seen 

 at their best. Three members of the Pimelea family were noted 

 — ^viz.. Dwarf Rice-flower, Pimelea humilis, Hairy Rice-flower, 

 P. phyllicoides, Downy Rice -flower, Pimelea octophylla. Two 

 fine specimens of the Kangaroo Apple, Solanum aviculare, 

 proved of great interest to the party. A few patches of the 

 Wild Parsnip, Didiscus pilosus, were also observed. This plant 

 has been credited with poisonous properties, but recent in- 

 vestigations have disproved this opinion. Amongst the 

 Compositae, the Curling Everlasting, Helichrysum scorpioides, 

 the Big Billy Buttons, Craspedia Richea, and the Large Podo- 

 lepis, Podolepis acuminata, were fairly plentiful. Four members 

 of the Orchidaceae were collected — viz., the Larger Glossodia, 

 Glossodia major, the Spider Orchid, Caladenia Patersoni, the 

 Yellow Hood Orchid, Thelymitra antennifera, and Tall Diuris, 

 Diuris longifolia. The Milkmaids, Burchardia umbellata, and 

 the Early Nancy, Anguillaria {Wurmbea) dioica, were met with 

 everywhere. Some of the party devoted their attention to 

 pond-life, and Mr. J. Searle has kindly given me the following 

 notes on their captures. He says : — " Although the winter 

 and early spring had been remarkably rainless, and only two 

 weeks had elapsed since practically the first rain fell on the 

 sandy soil of Cheltenham, the shallow depressions were found 

 to be teeming with aquatic life, the beautiful phyllopod, 

 Enlinmadia dahli, being the most common and already measuring 

 five -sixteenths of an inch in length. When it is remembered 

 that most of the pools around Cheltenham had been dry for 

 two years or more, the number of specimens taken was most 

 remarkable. The list includes Enlimnadia dahli, Lynecus 

 macleayana, Simocephaius gibbosiis, Ceriodaphnia rotunda, 

 Camptocercus, sp., Boeckella oblonga, Briinella aiistralis, Cyclops 

 albicans, Cypris leana, and Cypridopsis minna. The larvae of 

 Tanypus and Chyrononus were very abundant, while frog- 



