The Queensland Naturalist 
September, 1939 
52 
Mr. W. F. Bevington, late Inspector of Schools and 
now Lecturer associated with the Queensland Museum, 
gave a most entertaining* and instructive address on The 
Use of Natural History in Education. 
Mr. K. Jackson exhibited land shells collected on 
Ta mborine Mount a in. 
THE GRASSES AND GRASSLANDS OF THE PETRIE 
DISTRICT. 
By S. T. Blake, M.Sc. 
FOREWORD. 
The following is abridged from one of the theses pre- 
pared in 1933 as part of the requirements for the Honours 
Course in Botany in the University of Queensland. Several 
years’ residence in the district formed the basis of the 
work. Very little alteration to the main body of the orig- 
inal paper has been made except where further study of 
some species has required a few nomenclatural changes. 
Specimens of the majority of the grasses mentioned had 
been determined by Mr. C. E. Hubbard, the well-known 
authority on grasses, during his sojourn in Queensland, 
while a few have been determined since his return to Kew. 
Unfortunately the species of Digitaria are still not 
thoroughly understood, and it is not yet possible to be as 
precise as one could wish. 
GENERAL CONSIDERATION. 
The area studied comprises an area of about 15 square 
miles, situated 16-18 miles north of Brisbane, which it 
resembles climatically. The average annual rainfall is 
48.06 inches, most of which falls in January and February. 
The driest month is August with an average of 1.55 inches. 
No temperature figures are available, but those for Bris- 
bane may be taken as approximatley correct. 
Average Annual Temperature 68.9 deg. F. 
Average Temperature of Hottest Month . . 77.2 deg. F. 
Average Temperature of Coldest Month . . 58.5 deg. F. 
GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 
Three distinct geological series are represented in the 
district, and they all give rise to acid soils. The two lower 
series, the Greenstone Series and the Bunya Phyliite Series, 
are members of the Palaeozoic Brisbane Schists which are 
widely distributed in south-east Queensland. The third 
