72 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



NOTES ON THE FLORA OF MOUNT HOTHAM. 

 By James Stirling, F.G.S., F.L.S. 



(Read before the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, 14/A 

 March, 1887.; 

 Introductory. — Originally known as " Baldv," owing, pro- 

 bably, to the bare, bleak aspect it presents, this rounded 

 mountain now retains the name of one of the earlier Governors 

 of Victoria, and of late years has become famous. During 

 1873 Sir George Bowen (the then Governor of Victoria), accom- 

 panied by Judge Casey, the Surveyor-General, and the Secretary 

 for Mines, travelled over Mount Hotham from Omeo to 

 Bright. To commemorate the Vice-regal visit, the spring at 

 the source of the Kiewa River, on the north side of the moun- 

 tain, was named the Diamentina in honour of Lady Bowen. 

 Li January, 1885, Sir H. B. Loch, Lady Loch, and suite, with 

 several members of Parliament, camped near the summit of 

 the mountain, on the ridge dividing the Ovens and Kiewa 

 Rivers, and which connects Mount Feathertop and jMount 

 Hotham. To commemorate that event, the first occasion on 

 which a lady representative of Vice-Royalty had penetrated 

 the heart of the Australian Alps, the deep glen to the south 

 of the mountain (forming the source of the Dargo River) was 

 named Loch Glen. At this spot her Ladyship gathered snow, 

 so that Mount Hotham may now be said to have become 

 historical. The main road from Omeo to Bright passes over it 

 near the summit, and this route is now a favourite one for 

 tourists during midsummer. I have been surprised that mem- 

 bers of the Field Naturalists' Club have not already organised 

 an excursion to this interesting locality, so rich in floral trea- 

 sures of an endemic kind, and whose affinities with Tasmanian 

 species are well established. Before the present splendid side- 

 ling cuttings were made, the road passed over the summit of 

 the mountain, and in the " olden days " was always a terror to 

 the unwary traveller, owing to the sudden changes of tem- 

 perature, the dense bewildering fogs, and chilling winds which 

 blow with an almost cyclonic force at these altitudes. Having 

 frequently traversed the mountain when the snow lay two feet 

 thick in the open, with biting wind and blinding, drifting snow, 

 making both horse and rider shudder, and again when a clear, 

 blue sky and cool, summer breeze added delight to the lovely 

 landscape scene, the whole mountain radiant with a verdant 

 sheen, while the lower lands were languishing in excessive dry- 

 ness. I can, with some confidence, direct attention to the great 

 contrast between winter and summer on these Alpine areas. 



Topographical and Geological. — Standing 0:1 the summit 

 of the mountain near the Trigonometrical Station (a small cairn 

 of stones), the panorama which bursts into view is singularly 



