46 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



sieberiana. The Hypericum, already referred to, occurs all the 

 way to the Hospice and down the Dargo track, and so do 

 some other weeds, showing how steadily they become ac- 

 climatized. The English Musk I have already alluded to, while 

 Yorkshire Fog, Holcus lanatus, is not uncommon about half-way 

 up. The following plants were observed : — A very viscid Heli- 

 chrysum, H. stirlingi, F. v. M. ; Olearia megalophylla, F. v. M. ; 

 Cassinia longifolia, R. Br., and acideata, R. Br. (the latter par- 

 ticularly abundant) ; Gelmisia longifolia, Cass. ; while the banks 

 were often yellow with Senecio australis, Willd. Of Persoonias 

 there were P. media, R. Br., P. revoluta, Sieb., and P. chamce- 

 peuce, Lhot. On the old track I noticed the viscid Acacia leprosa, 

 Sieb. Along the moist cuttings Lobelia gibbosa, Labill., was not 

 rare ; there were a few shrubs of Gaidtheria hispida, R. Br. ; 

 Pimelea pauciflora, R. Br., was common, and so also was Co- 

 prosma hirtella, Labill. The leafless orchid, Dipodium punctatum, 

 R. Br., was seen, while Deyeuxia scabra, Benth., and Danthonia 

 penicillata, F. v. M., appeared to be the commonest of the 

 grasses. Daviesia corymbosa, Sm., was very abundant, even as 

 high as the Hospice and beyond. At 4,000 feet I saw one with 

 a trunk 6 inches in diameter. Grevillea victorias, F. v. M., occurs 

 near the Hospice and for i,coo feet lower. Acacia mollissima, 

 Willd., was observed as high as 5,000 feet ; Eriostemon 

 myoporoides, D. C (known locally as Daphne), was seen only 500 

 feet lower than the Hospice, while there are some fine shrubs of 

 Leptospermum myrsinoides, Schlecht, at the Hospice water 

 supply. On the Dargo River, about a mile from and several 

 hundred feet below the Hospice, is Prostanthera lasiantha, Labill., 

 of an unusually deep purple colour, rendering it a beautiful flower 

 for table decorations. 



Just a word or two about the Eucalypts. E. dives, Schauer, 

 was seen in moderate abundance near the first spring. This 

 species has not previously been recorded for Victoria. There are 

 dense forests of straight young trees, principally of Mountain Ash, 

 E. sieberiana, F. v. M., for the greater part of the ascent. While 

 this is the predominant species in these ranges, E. gunnii, J. Hook., 

 was not rare, and in some places plentiful. E. coriacea, A. 

 Cunn., a White or Cabbage Gum, is markedly pink-barked a few 

 miles out of Harrietville on the ascent. E. coriacea, E. 

 sieberiana, and E. gunnii are the three Eucalypts which are 

 found on high situations in the Alps ; finally E, coriacea is left, 

 this species alone forming the " tree line." 



A few words in regard to the highest part of my trip, from the 

 Hospice at Mt. St. Bernard to Mt. Hotham, and I have done. 

 E. coriacea is apparently the only gum that ascends higher than 

 the Hospice ; on the highest peaks it is stunted and very glaucous, 

 and is known as " Snow Gum." 



