8 
Feb., 1942 
The Queensland Naturalist 
grass), Sporobolus elongatus (rat-tail grass), Fimbristylis 
diphylla var. polystachya, and Cy perns sp. (= Kyllinga 
cylindrica); tlie two legumes Desmodium various and 
Trifolium procumbens (an introduced clover), with 
Hydrocotyle asiatica, Taraxacum officinale , Verbena 
venosa (wild verbena, introduced) and Geranium dissec- 
tum; while there also occur Digit aria violascens , Capilli- 
pedium sp., Bothriochloa decipiens (pitted blue grass), 
Panicum effusum, Fimbristylis monostachya , Hypericum 
gramineum , Lespedeza sericea, Verbena officinalis, and 
Cnicus lanceolatus (Scotch thistle). 
Further up the slopes the character of the forest 
changes (Fig. 1). The apple drops out and the blue gum 
is replaced by other eucalypts, chiefly E. microcorys 
(tallow-wood), E. major (a grey gum), E. gummifera 
(bloodwood), E. Anclrewsii f (New England stringy- 
bark; perhaps the closely similar E. campanulata), E. 
cornea (red stringy-bark) and occasionally E. paniculata 
(grey iron-bark) ; but in addition Casuarina torulosa 
(forest she-oak) commonly forms an understory of smaller 
graceful trees. On Mt. Gipps Xanthorrhoea arborea 
(grass-tree) appeared in the forest at about 1,300 ft. and 
persisted to the edge of the rainforest, while near the 
upper edge of the open forest on this mountain there also 
occur a few trees of Banksia integrifolia. A few shrubs 
occur here and there in the forest, but they are usually 
very scattered and chiefly on the middle and higher slopes ; 
Swainsona coronillifolia (a Darling Pea) is one of the 
commonest. The others are all normally lianas, but here 
form small to large tangled masses on the hillsides: they 
are Clematis aristata, Riibus parvifolius (raspberry), 
Eustrephus latifolius, Smilax australis , and (rarely) 
Lonchocarpus Blackii; the two last-mentioned are strays 
from the open forest — elosed forest ecotone. The her- 
baceous cover varies somewhat in detail from place to 
place, but except for occasional patches of bracken 
( Pteridium aquilinum var. esculentum) or blady grass 
( Imperata cylindrica var. major) it is completely dom- 
inated by kangaroo grass, Themeda australis. This grass 
forms a dense mass of closely spaced tufts 3-4 ft. 
high or more with branched leafy stems. A certain 
amount of wax is produced on the stems and leaf -sheaths, 
and this makes the grass very slippery under foot. 
Associated and more or less abundant grasses are 
Capillipedium spp. (scented golden beard), Hyparrlienia 
