So AUSTRALIAN BOTANY 



struck with the tranquillity of the scene. Silence reigns, 

 and is seldom broken except by the cry of a lyre bird 

 (native pheasant), or perhaps the ' whish ' of a startled 

 wallaby. 



The tree-ferns vie with each other in the magnificence of 

 their frondage. 1 No matter how grand the scenery may be 

 in other respects, no matter how majestic the trees, the 

 graceful forms and bright green of the ferns will always 

 arrest the attention. At almost every step, one crushes 

 underfoot the ' native mint ' {Mentha Aitstralis, M. laxiflora, 

 etc.) and other herbs which emit a fragrant perfume. In 

 the steep gullies and ravines, where there is moisture, scores 

 of beautiful dwarf ferns occur, such as Asfiidium, Doodia, 

 maiden-hair ferns [Adiantum assimile and A. Althiopicufii), 

 Blechniun, Gleichejiia, Pteris, Lindsay a ^ Lomaria, etc. 

 These catch the eye at every step, and the real lover of plants 

 will often pause during his ramble to admire their singular 

 beauty. That most remarkable of all ferns, Todea barbara 

 (Syn. T. Africana), found generally in the beds of creeks, 

 though seldom attaining a height of more than four or five 

 feet, has a bulky trunk, almost as broad as the plant is 

 high. It frequently weighs as much as 14 to 15 cwt. 

 From the tallest trees droop festoons of the ' native supple- 

 jack ' {Clematis aristata), binding their limbs together, or 

 interlacing them, with their rope-like stems, covered with 

 moss, and often forming, at considerable height, a canopy 



1 Forests of these Eicksonia antarcticar and Alsophila Australis 

 (the 'mountain tree-fern'), many acres in extent, are of frequent 

 occurrence in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania. 

 The dark stems of the former fern in Victoria are often clothed with 

 epiphytes and climbers, such as Fieldia Auslralis, Poly podium 

 scandens, Lyonsia straminea, Hymenophyllum Vunbridgense i etc. 



