Feb., 1907.J THK VICTOKIAN NATURALIST. 173 



botanical specimens met with, and our president, Mr. Barnard, 

 who was with us, has kindly given the following notes on the 

 botany of the outing : — 



" The first flower to attract our attention was the Fringed Lily, 

 Thysanotus tuberosus, which made a gay scene about Mooroolbark 

 station, and thence onward for the rest of the day. Near Olinda 

 Vale station the singular flowers of Aster myrshioides, with their 

 three floral rays, attracted attention. The Blue Pincushion Flower, 

 Brunoaia australis, was in evidence everywhere. Several orchids 

 were collected, such as Fterostylis cucullafa, Thelymitra aristata, 

 Microtis porrifolia, Galadenia carriea (very fine, with very dark 

 flowers, near the creek), and Prasophyllum patens. Utricularia 

 dichotoma could have been picked in hundreds, if not thousands, 

 on Brown's Flat, near the Olinda Creek. Here also, on the banks 

 of the creek was a wealth of fern vegetation of the commoner 

 sorts. However, as a collecting ground for young seedlings of 

 ferns, no place that I know of is equal to the water-race of the 

 Lilydale Water Trust, which follows the contour of the hillside on 

 the north side of the creek, and is met with in less than half a 

 mile along the road from Olinda Vale station, south towards Mt. 

 Dandenong. On Saturday, in a space of about half a dozen yards, 

 w^ithout any special searching, I got nice plants of the two 

 Gleichenias and ten other species of ferns, and anyone who 

 wishes to start a fernery cannot do better than go there and get 

 these little plants. They are far easier to manage than the larger 

 ones often seen brought home by excursionists to our fern gullies. 

 On Brown's Flat also grew plenty of Maidenhair and Lindsaya 

 linearis. Though rather late for a good display of wild flowers, 

 still some twenty-five species were collected." 



After early tea at the " Woodlanders' " hut the party walked 

 across the creek flats to Lilydale, a distance of some three miles, 

 and caught the evening train there, thoroughly pleased with their 

 outing. — E. B. NicHOLLS. 



The Late F. E. Grant. — It is with great regret that we 

 record the death of Mr. F. E. Grant, of Sydney. Mr. Grant, 

 when stationed in Melbourne, was an active worker in the Field 

 Naturalists' Club of Victoria, and filled the position of librarian 

 for the year 1900-1. He contributed on several occasions to its 

 proceedings, and his loss as a worker on the Victorian crustaceans, 

 in conjunction with our member, Mr. Sydney W. Fulton, 

 will be deeply felt by all interested in this branch of natural 

 history. 



