Jan.,! Hardy, The Mallee : Ouyen to Pinnavoo. 1153 



E. gracilis, E. oleosa, and E. uncinata. On slightly 

 rising ground were tall pines and Comb Grevilleas, G. Hnegelii, 

 in bloom, the latter making a very pretty picture when backed 

 by the dark green Callitris. The wood of this Grevillea is of 

 a reddish-brown colour, and mottled by the medullary rays 

 which are a conspicuous feature of all the Proteaceae. It is 

 suitable for cabinet work of small dimensions. The shrub 

 would be a handsome addition to any park or large garden, 

 but is too harsh and straggling for a small space. The lowly 

 sister species, G. ilicifolia, was to be seen. I have a suspicion 

 that this plant has occasionally been confused with G. aqui- 

 foliwn, which is a more prickly shrub. Also, in this locaHty 

 were Acacia salicina and Hakea leucoptera, but these are 

 common Mallee plants. In the morning, delay in starting was 

 caused by the escape of a horse, and the sun was well up, and 

 hot, before the result of the futile pursuit was known. The 

 loss was serious, as from this point the buggy was to go back 

 with a pair of horses and three of us were to ride on into new 

 country. The difficulty was overcome by the driver volunteering 

 to steer the buggy with only one horse attached to the pole 

 all the way back to Ouyen, and this feat, we subsequently 

 learned, he successfully accomplished without mishap and in 

 the same sang froid in which he had made the proposal. 



We three, then, set out with several days' provisions, 

 water-bags, camera, &c., attached to ourselves or saddles, 

 and went at a smart trot through scrub of composition 

 similar to that just described. A few miles on we reached a 

 small excavation containing water, and the ruin of a log hut 

 about 15 years old. There were thistles on the embankment, 

 and numerous old cattle-tracks about the place. This place 

 Mr. Kenyon named Meridian Tank, because of its position 

 near the 142nd meridian, a little to the west of north of 

 Wymlet. The country here was still open, with clumps of 

 mallee 15 to 18 feet high as at Wymlet, almost flat, with 

 an absence of pines, and with a Httle " Porcupine " — a most 

 appropriate name for the grass tussocks named on departmental 

 plans '' Spinifex" and by the Plant Records Committee " False 

 Spinifex." There is nothing false about this plant, Triodia 

 irritans. It pretends not at all ; but the small hemispherical 

 tussocks resemble nothing so much, in the distance, 

 as a porcupine with quills erect, and I strongly advocate 

 this vernacular for adoption.* In places it grows to 

 a height of 3 feet and 3 or 4 feet across, with fruiting-stems 

 reaching to the saddle-top. The horses picked their way daintily 

 among the tussocks and stepped high over the small ones and 



* " La Fe silica ou Triodia irritans, I'herbe porcupine des colons," 

 Ferdiaand Mueller, 1866. 



