274 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 



common in the creek and basal brushes. It is Melodinus acuti- 

 flonis, F. V. M., also with opposite leaves, but these are ovate or 

 lanceolate. The fruit is the size and shape of a small apple, and 

 is pulpy within. 



But the plant that offers the greatest opposition to the pro- 

 gress of the naturahst is a chmbing palm, known as the " Lawyer 

 Cane."^ Its nodes give off fine sprays, one to two feet long, armed 

 with numerous hooks ; these sprays are tough and flexible and 

 twine themselves into the clothing of the visitor, impeding his 

 progress. When young, each cane has a prickly outer coat. The 

 fruit dangles from the vine on long, tough supports, armed with 

 a number of prickles resembling fishhooks. 



It is a surprise to the botanist to find the principal tree in the 

 scrub is the Queensland Flooded Gum, Eucalyptus botryoides, Sm., 

 with which he is so famihar in the low-lying scrubs along the 

 North Coast railway fine, and that it flourishes equally well at 

 heights of 2,000 feet above the sea. This tree, with its French- 

 grey shafts, 6-8 feet in diameter, and rising to a height of 200 feet, 

 is a vision of beauty to the botanist. Although it is usually stated 

 that the butt is covered with rough bark to a considerable height, 

 this is not true in these mountain scrubs, as the trunk is 

 usually smooth from base to summit. The presence of these 

 eucalypts is a hindrance to the settler ; when he has felled and 

 burnt the scrub, the roots of the common scrub trees rot out in a 

 few years, but this is not the case with E. botryoides, whose roots 

 have to be grubbed out with considerable trouble and labour. 



A curious feature of many scrub trees is the growth from the 

 lower parts of the trunk of enormous flanges. These are at times 

 12 to 15 feet long. The angle between two neighbouring flanges 

 is a favourite hiding place for the smaller marsupials. At times 

 these angles hold water, and the discovery is always welcome to 

 the sportsman or naturalist. The trees that most constantly form 

 buttresses are W einmannia lachnocarpa, F. v. M. ; W. Bentharni, 

 F. V. M. (both known as Marara) ; Tarrietia argyrodeiidrou, Benth., 

 and its variety trifoliata, F. v. M., called by the settlers Booyong. 



At times trees that are supposed to be peculiar to Northern 

 Queensland are found, under favourable conditions of soil and 

 climate, to range much further south, and to appear in unexpected 

 localities. The discovery of Endiandra insignis, Bail., as one of 

 the commonest trees on Tambourine Mountain is a case in point. 

 Its very characteristic fruit, two to three inches long, and changing 

 from pink to dull red when ripening, should have revealed its 

 southern habitat. Known heretofore form the Cairns district only, 

 it was found, as stated, by Drs. Domin and Danes and the writer 

 in March, 1909. 



The orders most fully represented are the Pittosporeje, of 

 which the commonest are P. undiilatum, Vent., and P. revohttum, 

 Ait. ; Tiliacege, best exemplified by Sloanea australis, Benth., and 



1. Calainiis Muolleri, JK, 6- D. 



