ner River, it ranges from over 3 feet 
high on sandplain to a prostrate shrub 
a few inches high on the ocean fringes; 
and a little more on the high peaks of 
the Stirlings. About 30 miles east of 
Albany, one passes the Many Peaks 
Range, towards which some side roads 
turn; and it is along these that B. 
coccinea grows as a small tree to about 
35 feet. Strangely enough, these tall 
specimens seldom flower, and have no 
seed cones on them. There are a group 
of rather dullish semi-tree banksias in 
this area not discussed; but of course 
there are 30 varieties all told along 
this track. Nearer Albany are two 
more large attractive shrub banksias, 
B. occidentalis and B. laevigata, neither 
being plentiful. B. occidentalis is a deli- 
cate feathery shrub on sand, to about 
20 feet, with a wine red brush, soon 
fading; whereas B. laevigata grows on 
the edge of swamps on the Gull Rock 
Rd. to a height of about 10 feet. Its 
brush is small, brown-violet in colour, 
and the leaves are stiff and prickly. 
Some of the coloured banksias have 
yellow forms as well, and these include 
B. coccinea, B. occidentalis, and B. 
cayleyii. Some interesting banksias 
grow on and around the Stirlings, 3 
of which are endemic, and will be dealt 
with later. 
Darlimuria Area — A Botanical Survey 
by Ellen Lyndon 
This list of the ferns and flowering 
plants is by no means complete. I have 
not sufficient knowledge to attempt the 
grasses, rushes and sedges, for one 
thing, and I feel that there are people 
in the Club better fitted than I to deal 
with the orchids. 
There are many gaps in the list 
where plants that should be in the area 
are missing, perhaps due to many years 
of clearing and firing. Early pictures 
of the area around Mirboo North and 
Darlimuria show the hills almost bare. 
The valleys of the watercourses are 
shallow so that the ferns were never 
protected by steep-sided gorges that 
a fire might jump. The filmy ferns are 
not there, and the Kangaroo Fern, so 
plentiful and lush in other parts of the 
Strzelecki where it sometimes clothes 
the introduced willows from top to 
bottom, is conspicuous by its absence. 
The list is compiled from many ex- 
cursions into the bush in perhaps a 
four-mile radius of the township, say 
from the Thorpdale road across to the 
Boolarra-Mirboo North road. It could 
no doubt be greatly increased by ex- 
cursions in the spring when most of 
the plants are in flower. The Com- 
positae, for instance, look very weak. 
There must be many more. I hope 
Club members will build up my con- 
tributions. Where families are listed, 
but no species given, I have added them 
because I feel sure the species will 
turn up if we can keep pace with the 
Forests Commission's clearing rate. 
For one or two things I have gone 
outside the road boundaries mentioned 
above. Driniys lanceolata I know now 
from only sturdy specimens on the road 
to Boolarra about a mile or so outside 
Mirboo North. Cryptostylis subulata 
February, 1969 
33 
