go Chapman, Impression of Fruit of Casuarina. [vlu'xxxi. 



Drooping Sheoak, and with this determination Mr. Tovey, of 

 the National Herbarium, agrees. 



Judging from experiments, the fruit was lying with the stalk 

 end downwards, the lava receiving a hght impress of the apical 

 end of the fruit, showing the elliptical pits of one ring perfectly, 

 and an inner imperfectly, whilst the innermost one or two 

 rings are unrepresented, owing to their depressed position. 

 The impression matches that of an old or ripe fruit of the 

 Casuarina siricta type. 



Previous Records of the Occurrence of Casuarina 

 Beneath the Newer Basalt. 



In 1905 the writer described {Vict. Nat., vol. xxi., p. 173) 

 portions of tree-stumps found under 90 feet of basalt at 

 Burnley quarries, in the alluvium of the ancient Yarra. On 

 microscopic examination the wood proved to belong to 

 Casuarina (C. strida, Alton, the Drooping Sheoak). The 

 wood in this case showed " no greater alteration than a piece 

 of Irish Bog-oak, although it has been in actual contact with 

 the lava." 



Remains of wood, probably of Casuarina, have also been 

 recorded from under the Newer Basalt, at the Clifton Hill 

 quarry, by Mr. R. W. Armitage {Vict. Nat., vol. xxvii., 1910, 

 pp. 21-30, pis. 3, 4), and that author gives an exhaustive 

 summary of recorded plant-remains found associated with 

 lavas in different parts of the world. 



Description of the Lava-Block, and Remarks Thereon. 



The piece of lava on which the impression occurs is convex 

 on the impressed side, and conveys the idea that it was 

 moulded in a gutter or hollow in wliich the fruit was lying. 

 The uppermost or flat side shows a fluidal or semi-ropy 

 structure, and can be referred to the pahoehoe type, as 

 described l)y Dana. In order to ascertain the nature of the 

 lava-structure, this block was chipped at one end. The broken 

 surface shows that even in this thin flow there is evidence of 

 two layers, a cooled surface being devclo])ed midway in the 

 mass, which, altogether, is less than 6 centimetres thick. The 

 lava is inclined to be spongy through the inclusion of vesicles, 

 and showing a general " bread-crust " structure, which 

 probably points to its nearness to the centre of eruption. 



A noteworthy question as to the vegetation being con- 

 temporaneous during the volcanic period arises out of Mr. 

 Smith's remark that " the organism that formed the im- 

 pression must have existed after at least the flrst eruption of 

 the old volcano." VVe here seem to have evidence of a 

 resuscitation of the vegetation of the plains and creeks of the 



