66 WA-LTO^, Botany of the'' Little Desert:' [^^f 



Vict Nat. 

 XXX. 



It is quite circular, about three chains in diameter, and has 

 precipitous sides of red sandstone, worn into fantastic shapes. 

 This was discovered by a wild-dog trapper named Matthews, 

 who described the situation of the crater to me, and, after 

 spending two days in an unsuccessful attempt to find it, I at 

 last made the discovery later on. There is a good-sized salt 

 lake some distance away from the south margin of the desert, 

 where good salt is obtained by a lessee who rents the lake from 

 the Government ; and a larger one exists still further south, 

 in the parish of Duchembegara. Along the northern margin 

 stood the squatters' stations of Winiam and Drumbanagher, 

 now in the occupation of farmers, the Scrub Honeysuckle, 

 Banksia ornata, growing almost up to their very doors. The 

 southern margin was in the hands of the owners of Wyn-Wyn, 

 Spring Hill, Spring Bank, Pleasant Banks, Mortat, Lemon 

 Springs, and Tallageira stations, all of which, with the excep- 

 tion of Mortat, are now either in the hands of farmers or gone 

 to ruin. 



The plant-life around the margin of the Desert consists 

 mostly of a wide belt of Banksia ornata, being a veritable 

 paradise for the large number of honey-loving birds frequenting 

 the place. The common Casuarina distyla fills up the spaces, 

 and also Leptosfermum myrsinoides. After passing through 

 this belt we come to where a greater variety of plants abounds 

 — for instance, Zieria veronicea, with its pretty pink flowers 

 and balm-scented leaves ; PultencBa tenuifolia, Styphelia virgata, 

 interspersed with tufts of Lepidosperma carphoides, and others 

 of the cyperaceous order. We may also find specimens of 

 Calycothrix tefragona and Brachyloma daphnoides here. The 

 road from Nhill to Goroke passes through a part of the scrub 

 abounding in a large number of plants, both common and 

 uncommon. We have here, shortly after entering the desert, 

 clumps of Callistemon coccinetis, particularly showy when in 

 flower, growing on the margin of a clay- pan or swamp, dry in 

 summer and covered with a foot or two of water in the winter. 

 If you pass along the road, say, in the month of November, 

 you will probably be attracted by the bright blue flowers of 

 the beautiful title orchid Thelymitra ixioides, which pushes its 

 blossoms about the level of the surrounding scrubs and grasses. 

 We will also probably come across a dwarf variety of Grevillea 

 ilicifolia (?) which creeps along the ground like G. repens, but 

 has deeply cut leaves pungently pointed, greyish in colour, 

 and small, insignificant flowers. Further on we come to a 

 plain covered with a thick growth of dwarf shrubs, such as 

 Phyllota pleurandroides, Pultencea tenuifolia, and such like. 



A complete change takes place when we reach the stony 

 rise, and here we meet Acacia Mitchelli, Acacia myrtifolia, 



