'^^'^■'1 Excursioji to National Park. iqi 



1915 J -' 



I am indebted to Mr. Barnard for the following notes on the 

 •botanical features of the trip. He says : — " Entering the Park 

 at the Vereker landing, one could not help being struck by 

 the unique effect created by the numerous fine banksia trees, 

 Banksia serrata, which at a little distance have the appearance 

 of a well-tended orchard. Their flowering spikes in many 

 cases were from nine to twelve inches long and proportion- 

 ately thick. When the seeds are ripe they form a favourite 

 article of diet of the Black Cockatoos. Here and there were 

 fine spikes of the Pink Spotted Orchid, DipoMum punctatum. 

 At the Darby River we found a nice fringe of shrubs and 

 plants along the bank, comprising many species, among which 

 Swainsona lessertifolia was conspicuous by its dark purple 

 flowers. The plants of the Promontory have been so well 

 listed by the two previous Club excursions and the three 

 special collecting trips organized by the National Herbarium, 

 the results of which have appeared in the Naturalist, that 

 there is no necessity to again refer to the several species in 

 detail. During the walk to Tongue Point several novelties to 

 the new-comer were seen, such as Thomasia petalocalyx, a shrub 

 with pretty pink flowers, belonging to the natural order 

 Sterculiaces ; the red-flowered variety of Correa speciosa, 

 Correa alba, and Alyxia huxifolia. Kmizea corifolia had been 

 making a fine show, but was just over. During the walk to 

 Tidal River the Wedding-bush, Ricinocarpus pinifolius, was 

 found in fruit, and the reason for its generic name easily seen, 

 for they resembled in miniature those of the well-known 

 castor-oil tree. Large patches of Coral Fern were seen near 

 the Tidal River, while in the moister parts the delicate purple 

 flowers of the Bladderwort, Utriciilaria dichotoma, were fairly 

 common. It had been anticipated that some plants or shrubs 

 would have occurred in sufficient abundance to have given 

 colour to the landscape, but at the time of our visit half an 

 acre or so of Hakea pugioniformis, with creamy white flowers, 

 was the only decided patch we came across. Earlier in the 

 season PuUencea daphnoides and P. Mnelleri, which occurred 

 in abundance near the site of our camp, must have given a 

 tinge of colour to that locality. During the trip to Sealers' 

 Cove, knowing that the list of ferns recorded could probably 

 be augmented, I devoted some attention to those plants, and 

 added Lomaria fluviatilis to the list. It is quite probable other 

 species will yet be found here, but our time was too limited 

 to allow us to leave the track. Many shady fern-glades were 

 passed which one would have liked to have stopped and 

 explored, but they had to be rapidly passed by. Many of the 

 tree-ferns were clothed with Asplenium flaccidum, a somewhat 

 rare fern in the gullies nearer ^lelbourne. A search was made 



