THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST 105 



Going along a track after dark you may see a patchy line of 

 bluish lights marking the position of a log. It has been said that 

 a person could read by the aid of the light emitted, but that is 

 incorrect. The largest individual patch I saw was about 6 square 

 inches in area. 



A ground orchid is occasionally met with — a species of Calanthe 

 — the corrugated leaves of which are about a foot in length. One 

 plant will contain six or eight crowns, each bearing a flower-stalk 

 3 feet in height. As far as I could calculate the spike is flowering 

 for fully three months of the year, commencing in November and 

 lasting till the end of January. Being an indefinite inflorescence, 

 the flowers on the base are finished long before the highest ones 

 are out. The individual flowers are 2 inches in length, of a 

 whitish colour, and odourless. 



Yet another plant worthy of notice is the Walking-Stick Palm, 

 Baculeria monostachya. It looks very pretty, with its small red 

 fruit hanging gracefully in streams. The palm rarely grows more 

 than 10 feet high, but its thin, flexible stem is of an extremely 

 tough nature. 



Terrestrial ferns are not common, but these scrubs are the 

 home of epiphytal ferns and orchids. On every teak tree are 

 found plants of Platycerium alcicome, Elk's-horn Fern, and P. 

 grande, Stag-horn Fern, and the new comer can only stand and 

 gaze in amazement at the beautiful clumps of these ferns, some no 

 less than 12 and 15 feet in circumference, growing like giant 

 excrescences on the branches of the trees. And what a sight it 

 must be in the springtime to see those lovely tree orchids, Den- 

 drobiums, when the gorgeous flowers stream forth and fill the 

 whole air with fragrance ! Who would believe the Rock Lily of 

 Sydney and the tree orchid of the " Big Scrub " to be identical ? 

 No doubt the tropical existence makes the difference. The 

 flower-stalk in one instance will, perhaps, measure 9 inches, while 

 in the " Big Scrub " 2 and 3 feet is no uncommon length ; for I 

 could see in the now withered stalks the evidences of their former 

 glory. The teak trees appear to be the most favoured, for though 

 the Bird's-nest Fern, Asplenium nidus, is frequently on other trees, 

 the Platyceriums and the Dendrobiums prefer the teak. The tree 

 orchids are sometimes seen growing in clumps among the Stag- 

 horns, but they usually occupy positions of their own, and thrust 

 their tubers up like so many fingers towards the light. There are 

 two species, D. speciosum and D. hilli, the latter being the rarer. 

 It has pure white flowers, otherwise the two kinds are similar. 

 Another species of orchid has tubers of a long thin nature, about 

 the length and thickness of a lead pencil. Still another variety 

 common on all trees is very small, and bears three or four dull 

 yellow bell-shaped flowers on a stalk. 



Now to deal with some giants of the vegetable kingdom. The 



