BOTANICAL NOTES 
By L. RODWAY, C.M.G. 
Autumn is not a good time of the 
year to go plant-hunting. The botani¬ 
cal students, however, did very well. 
The prevailing euealypts about the 
camp were peppermint and blue gum. 
and occasionally messmate, oreate, and 
white gum. None of these assumed 
milling proportions, but old stumps 
bore evidence that in days gone by 
some large trees had been gathered. 
Gum trees belong to the myrtle family, 
which is widely spread about the earth, 
and is correspondingly varied in struc¬ 
ture. 
Two other members of the family 
were met with, namely, Yellow Bottle¬ 
brush, which formed a dense scrub in 
the bed of the creek, and a small heath¬ 
like shrub with white flowers, common¬ 
ly called native broom. This popu¬ 
lar name is objectionable, but wo have 
no other. The name given it hy bota¬ 
nists is Calytlirix tetragona, which does 
not appeal to people generally. Caly- 
thrix does not look at all like a near 
relation to the mighty eucalypt. How¬ 
ever, when you come to examine its 
structure the similarity of essential de¬ 
tails becomes apparent. The wild heath 
was well out in white and all shades of 
pink. 
Though it was late in the season, sx 
different orchids were found. These 
included two gr. en hoods. There was 
one, Pterostylis ] edogbssa, a form we 
used to include in I\ obtusa, but Fitz¬ 
gerald considered it distinct, and named 
il as above. It Jitters chiefly in hav¬ 
ing a rosette of leaves at the base of 
the stem, which does not occur in P. 
obtusa, and the labelliun is shorter and 
more obtuse. The other Pterostylis 
was P. aphylla, a singular little plant, 
commonly hearing two flowers, so plac¬ 
ed that they appear to be facing one 
another. Next we gathered Prasophyl- 
lum brachystachyum, with many small 
flowers on a tall stalk, and of so unin¬ 
teresting a form to the general stu¬ 
dent as to have not obtained a common 
name. 
The lesser ant-orcliid, ( hiloglottis 
diphvlla. was flowering freely, which is 
unusual. The autumn orchid, Krio.-hi- 
lus autumnal!*, was here, but not abun¬ 
dant. The only other form met with 
was the little Fly orchid, Acianthus ex- 
sertus. 
Amongst ferns, maidenhair war fairly 
common, and that useless, persistent 
pest, bracken, was everywhere and in 
quantity. Rome interesting fungi were 
gathered, inclining a broad, distorted 
Clavaria of a bright crimson-scarlet col¬ 
our. which appears to he in want of a 
name. | 
a: 
14 
