March, 1907.] THE VICTORIAN XATURALIST. ^39 



General Remarks on Surrounding Country, Etc. 



By F. G. A. Barnard, President, Field- Naturalists' Club 

 of Victoria. 



The site chosen for the camp was a fairly large opening 

 in the natural belt of trees and shrubs, which fox man\- 

 miles forms a prominent feature along the eastern shore of 

 Port Phillip Bay. Just at this part the land surface was 

 100 feet or so above high-water mark, and the somewhat 

 sloping cliff face was. in many places covered entirely 

 with vegetation, characteristic of such exposed situations, 

 right down to the sand and shingle of the beach. 



The prominent trees in this belt of vegetation were the 

 coast tea-tree {Leftosfermurn Icevigatuin), the coast 

 honeysuckle {jBanksia integrifolia), one of the she-oaks 

 {Casuarina quadrivalvis), with occasionally a blackwood 

 {Acacia melanoxylon), or a black wattle (A. mollissima). 

 Smaller trees and shrubs were the prickly box {Bursana 

 spina sa) (in bloom), Alyxia buxi folia (in bloom), Sty- 

 phelia richei, Acacia longifolia, and Myoforum insulare. 

 Climbing among these might be noticed one of the so- 

 called "supplejacks" {Clematis microfhylla), usually of 

 medium growth, but here possessing stems 20 to 30 feet 

 long, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter ; also 

 Cassylha glabella, really a parasitic plant. Some trailing 

 plants were Tetragonia imflexicoma, a close relative of 

 the New Zealand spinach; Muehlenbeckia adfressa, 

 known in Tasmania as the Macquarie Harbor vine ; and 

 the well-known pig-face M esembryanthemum Australc. 

 Smaller plants were Goodenia ovata, Rhagodia billardieri, 

 and the everlasting Helichrysmn aficulatiini. This belt of 

 shrubbery afforded shelter for many of our smaller birds, 

 which could be seen hopping through the bushes at all 

 times of the day ; while under the shade of the tea-tree, 

 in early spring, would probably be found representatives 

 of several orchidaceous genera such as Pterostylis, Aciaii- 

 thus, Corysanthes, &c. 



Along the road separating the coastal belt from the 

 inland paddocks, the prostrate Styfhelia humifusa, com- 

 monly known as cranberry, grew in unusual quantities. 

 Across the road were paddocks, -w^hich were poorly 

 grassed, the land being principally occupied by Restia- 

 ceous and Cyperaceous plants, with here and there 

 prickly shrubs, such as Leptosfermiim scoparium, Hakea 

 nodosa, or Daviesia ulicina, while a few liliaceous and 

 allied plants helped to relieve the monotony of the coarse- 

 leaved sedges, &c. 



