303 LORD HOWE'S ISLAND. 
where the stem branches off. The general appearance of this tree, 
which frequently attains a height of from 40 to 50 feet, is very sin- 
gular indeed: the whitish-coloured root-like bodies, or forked, adven- 
titious stems, occupying as much space below as the branches do above, 
and thus making the tree resemble an hour-glass. This is a more inland 
plant than the former, and grows up to a very considerable elevation. 
The next and only plant of this class of any particular interest be- 
longs to Jridacee, and is found only in two or three parts of the island, 
and that sparingly. One is puzzled to think how such a plant could 
be indigenous to this quarter of the world, so far distinct is it from 
most of its congeners. Seed vessels only were obtained, which resem- 
bled those of the genus Morea; the flowers were not seen, but from 
the description given of them by the settlers, who call them the ** wed- 
ding flowers," they would be referable to the genus named ; the leaves 
of the highest plant obtained were about 6 feet in length, and 3 inches 
wide at the broadest part. 
Crinum pedunculatum was abundant in many parts of the moist 
sandy shores; it was the only Amaryllid noticed. Orchids were rare, 
only two kinds being seen; one, a species of Dendrobium, grew spa- 
ringly upon Figs, and in rocky, shady places; another, a species of 
Sarcochilus, was observed attached to trees high upon the hillsides. 
The Grasses were equally scarce, only three indigenous kinds being 
gathered, viz. Spinifex, running along the sands of the coast ; a Chloris, 
and a Polypogon, the two last only iu one or two places in the interior. 
In all the clearances made by the settlers not now in cultivation, our 
Couch Grass, Cynodon Dactylon, and our Tufty Grass, Sporobolus elon- 
gatus, both evidently introduced, have taken possession of the ground. 
A single species of Carex, a Cyperus, and a Lamprocarya, are all that 
represent the Order Cyperaccie, while Juncus maritimus, Smilax lati- 
Jolia, and a Commelynaceous plant are the only other endogenous plants 
observed. 
It would occupy too muth space, and would be out of place in this 
sketchy description of the botany of the island, to enumerate all the 
exogenous plants collected ; I shall, therefore, confine myself to those 
which grow in the greatest abundance, and which mainly characterize 
the vegetation, namely, Lagunaria Patersoni, an Australian as well as 
Norfolk Island plant; an Ochrosia, remarkable for the abundance of 
its deep red-coloured fruit and bright green foliage; two species of 
* 
