J""*^'"! AuDAS, The Grampians Revisited. 25 



to adhere most tenaciously to clothing, and sets up an irritation 

 of the skin if allowed to come in contact with it. 



Continuing our way to the mount, but before undertaking 

 the serious business of the ascent, we roamed over a small 

 eminence, literally gleaming gold and white in the sunlight, 

 beneath its flowering cover of Brachycome diversifolia, com- 

 monly known as Tall Daisy, suggesting to us the name 

 " Daisy Hill," which we hope it will bear in future. A series 

 of perpendicular cliffs with alternating ledges comprise the 

 natural features of Mount DiiBcult, and while forcing our way 

 upwards we were not rewarded by the sight of anything 

 sufficiently out of the ordinary to raise our enthusiasm, the 

 only brightening feature of the ascent being the vivid green 

 of great moss-covered boulders, further beautified by multi- 

 tudinous blossoms of that pretty little plant, the Purple 

 Bladderwort, Utricularia dichotoma, often called " Rock Pansy," 

 and by some known as the " Shellflower." Quite a forest of 

 young Hickory Wattles, Acacia penninervis, was in existence 

 here, though no older trees were observed. This wattle might 

 easily be mistaken for the Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, 

 to which it bears a strong resemblance both in bloom and 

 foliage. A distressing feature to note was the destruction of 

 practically all the Varnish Wattles, Acacia vernicifltta, by an 

 insect, whose ravages were similar to those of Paropsis orphana 

 (the fire bUght), but whose depredations seemed, fortunately, 

 limited to this particular species. 



On reaching the summit, a height of 2,300 feet above sea- 

 level, we were amply rewarded for our arduous climb by finding 

 that interesting composite Olearia {Aster) speciosa, which was 

 first discovered by Mr. W. R. A. Baker, of the Melbourne 

 Botanic Gardens, in 1888. It was at that time supposed to 

 be 0. myrsinoides, and it remained to Hutchinson to discover 

 twenty years later that it was an unknown species ; seeds were 

 raised in 1907 at the Royal Kew Gardens, London, and sub- 

 sequently plants grown from cuttings. It develops into a 

 rather straggling shrub, about three feet high, bearing flowers 

 which differ from the better-known species by having fewer 

 ray-florets, and the densely tomentose leaves are also very 

 distinct. We also noted specimens of 0. ramulosa, new var. 

 intermedia, 0. asterotricha, 0. myrsinoides, and 0. lepidophylla. 

 The first-named presented a striking difference in the flower- 

 head, being of pale blue colouring and much smaller than the 

 normal form, in leaf resembling the type, and in flower-head 

 0. microphylla. Senecio odoratiis bore clusters of yellow flower- 

 heads, and its variety hypoleuca, also in bloom, could be 

 easily distinguished by the soft, downy under-surface of 

 the foliage. Two Pultenasas, P. styphelioides and P. villosa. 



