BOTANICAL NOTES. 
By L. Rodway, C.M.G. 
Til our last i-amp at East Cove we 
explored forests of Beerh. which we 
rea -lioil by the old, half-burnt tramway. 
This Beech is evergreen, while we have 
another species, which is common from 
Lake Kenton to the West (bast. that 
sheds its leaves in winter. This habit 
of shedding leaves is generally ascribed 
to periodic periods of dryness. Some 
species of Australian ligs, which are evi¬ 
dently warm hind plants, shed all leaves 
duriiis the regular period of drought to 
which they are subject Hut Beeches 
are not plants native of warm localities. 
They are essentially cool district ; lints. 
It has been supposed that those which 
are deciduous in winter have acquired 
this habit because the ground in which 
they were evolved was frozen, and there¬ 
fore physiologically dry for them. A 
mutch more plausible reason is that, as 
a tree living in Polar regions would re¬ 
ceive no direct sunlight for some months 
in the year, it was of great advantage to 
rid itself of leaves which were for that 
period not only useless, hut a constant 
source of loss. So wo luve some reason 
to conclude that our deciduous Beech 
('Faults guiinii) was evolved near the 
South Pole when that place lul l a genial, 
temperate climate. 
In the Southern Hemisphere we have 
Beeches in three districts, the extreme 
south of South America, New Zealand, 
and Tasmania, hut they nowhere exist 
in warm climates. In the Northern 
Hemisphere there is but one Beech, and 
it is found throughout the whole north 
tpinvvrntc zone, hut does not extend 
into the tropics. These Beeches of the 
South ; id the solitary Beech of the 
North are evidently ' lose relations, yet 
how did they spread across the tropics, 
while they most certainly could not live 
in a warm climate? Where was the 
genus evolved, and how did it pass the 
tropics? Was it that in those days 
there was neither frigidity at the Pole 
nor intensity about the equator? 
The season of our .amp was rather 
late for Orchids, but there was evidence 
that some kinds exist there in profusion. 
In particular in the Cutting-Hrass Flat 
on the side of V‘nob's Look-Out (Nel - 
son s Hill) there had been gorgeous speci¬ 
mens of Native Hyacinth quite two feet 
high, with the faded remnants of 20 or 
more flowers. Evidently this was also 
the home of many species of Fly Orchid. 
One of the plants most worthy of notice 
both from its size and Utility is the 
common Floating Kelp, which grows in 
such abundance about Penguin Island, 
in length it will beat any tree in the 
world, for under suitable 'conditions it 
often grows to 300 yards in length. In 
utility, independent of its service as a 
fertiliser, it is a great nursery for many 
of our food fishes, protecting them from 
the depredations of the voracious 'couta, 
and at the same time on its fronds grow 
lower structured organisms, which pro¬ 
vide food for the mere trouble of gather¬ 
ing. 
IS 
