184 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



directions from the local stationmaster and bank manager, both 

 of whom are well acquainted with the mounts, felt pretty confident 

 of reaching the top. 



The Victoria Valley road is followed, and the Wannon crossed 

 near the fellmongery. The tourist then turns into the scrub on 

 his left, and has the high rocky wall of Mount Sturgeon close in 

 front of him. The whole of the range is peculiar in having an 

 almost perpendicular face to the east, while the western side 

 slopes in the ordinary way. The formation is sandstone, and if 

 nearer town would be a grand addition to our building stones. 

 These sandstone cliffs greatly resemble those of the Kanimbla 

 and Grose Valleys in the Blue Mountains. For the benefit of 

 future explorers from the F.N.C., we may offer some directions 

 as to the route to be taken. On crossing the Wannon, keep well 

 to the left, and in the rocky wall you will notice two or three 

 gorges. Keep ascending gradually till you reach the foot of the 

 cliffs on the left-hand side of the southernmost gorge. Thence 

 you will find a sort of indistinct track, which, if followed, will 

 take you up the side of the gorge to the crest of the range. One 

 of our party tried the next gorge to the right, and only got up 

 after a hard struggle. 



After crossing the Wannon the country entirely changes, being 

 formed by the disintegration of the sandstone, and we soon 

 noticed many plants strange to us. One of the first to attract our 

 attention was Styphelia Soiideri, which grows in fair-sized bushes, 

 and bears brilliant crimson flowers three-quarters of an inch long. 

 Mr. D. Sullivan, F.L.S., of Moyston, in his papers on the plants 

 of the Grampians, read before this club, mentions that the emus 

 are very fond of the fruit of this shrub. A beautiful myrtaceous 

 shrub, Lhotzkya genetylloides, was now rather plentiful, its 

 branches being a mass of white star-like flowers. This shrub 

 would make a fine addition to our gardens ; in fact, at our late 

 wild flower show, sprays of the blossoms were exhibited by Mr. 

 W. R. Guilfoyle, of the Botanical Gardens, from plants obtained 

 by Mr. C. French several years ago at Hall's Gap, near Stawell. 

 As we ascended the mountain, other plants of interest were seen, 

 a fine white Conospermum being abundant, also the curious 

 Dodonaea. Grevilha ilicifolia, with its holly-shaped leaves and 

 pink flowers, and Grevilka dimorpha, with brilliant crimson flowers 

 and long narrow leaves, with Correa ae?nula, having singular 

 woolly leaves and stems, grew abundantly at the head of the 

 gorge. Among the loose stones on the top of the range the rare 

 Eriostemon pieurandroides, bearing fine yellow flowers, was found, 

 Mount Sturgeon being its chief habitat in the Grampians. 

 Epacris imp?-essa seemed here to be perfection itself Hihbertia 



