9 
ture in cutting tracks to such places as 
Cash’s Lookout would well repay the 
•mall outlay. Since our last visit con¬ 
siderable improvements have been car¬ 
ried out by the Scenery Preservation 
Board, but the district is worthy of even 
more being done. 
And as each day passeil and the 
autumn sun sank behind the hills, the 
various parties would return. The open 
air life was responsible for the anxious 
glances cast towards the dining tent,, 
where the acetylene flares would soon 
be burning brightly and the campers 
exchanging accounts of the day’s out¬ 
ings. 
As the Easter moon rose from the sea 
and illuminated the white shapes of the 
tents among the trees, a huge camp lire 
would be set alight, and the forests 
would ring with the melody of the 
camp choruses and songs. To the musi¬ 
cal members of the party we wore in¬ 
debted very considerably, for it is t<j 
them that our thanks must be accord¬ 
ed for many pleasant hours spent around 
the camp lire. The musical selections 
would bo interspersed with nature talks 
and other topics. After supper the 
company would gradually diminish, and 
lie members retire to their tents, to be 
lulled to sleep by the rhytlim a tic beat 
ot the surge upon the shore. 
And so tlie time passed all too quickly, 
ami many were the regrets expressed 
when Tuesday afternoon arrived, and 
it was time to leave, All set to work 
",i.t1 1 a "ill. however, and the miniature 
village and its occupants disappeared as 
though '*>>’ a magician's wand. All were 
aboard the s.s. Cartel a l>v I o’clock, and 
a start made for home. After calling at 
•n'»A rn Hobart was reached at 
Hl.sn, after a most pleasant trip. The 
calm and enjoyable return voyage was 
a fitting termination to the jileasant 
unjs that we had spent during the recent 
camp, ami in this manner the fifteenth 
annual camp of the Field Naturalists’ 
blub came to an end. 
BOTANICAL NOTES 
By L. Rodway, C.M.G. 
This is the second time within the 
last few years that the F.N.C. has made 
H® Raster camp in the vicinity of 
Laglohawk Neck, the former occasion 
being in April, 1916. In the report of 
that event may be found some refer¬ 
ence to the eucalvpts, orchids, ferns, and 
dune-flora found there. One of the most 
interesting groups of flowering plants 
wo have in Tasmania is tint known as 
the Protea family. This is a large, but 
perfectly natural, family, and was given 
ihe name Protea on account of the great 
diversity of forms of the plants included 
nl R*totetrs are common throughout 
the Southern hemisphere, and they 
spread to tropical Asia and up through 
the countries bordering on the Pacific, 
as far north as Japan. There is one 
feature common to all members of the' 
family, namely, a reduced or leathery 
condition of tile foliage, with very sunk¬ 
en pores. This stiucture is evidently 
an adaptation to a dry climate where the 
reduction of evaporation is a prime 
necessity. 
_ War a tali is a typical proteaccous 
plant, and to understand the structure 
ot its flower is to recognise all mem¬ 
bers of the family. The flowers may lie 
m loose or dense clusters; they may be 
single or in dense heads, but if we learn 
the structure of one proteaceous flower 
Government Botanist 
we shall be able to recognise any mem- 
.the group, for in Tasmania no 
other flower is formed like it. The 
flower possesses but one floral envelope, 
and this is split into four sections. Each 
section of 111 is perianth bears a stamen 
in a depression near its tip. In the 
middle of the flower is a single linear 
body, very like the same organs in a 
pea-flower, which will develop into the 
Iruit. In the vicinity of our camp there 
wr re six members of the family. Wara- 
tah. with its crimson flowers, needs no 
tnrt her description. There were two 
species of Hakea, II. pugioniformis was 
common. It was rigid and prickly, and 
would form an cxccllont hedge; the 
fruit: is shaped somewhat like a dagger, 
■he other llakea occurred at the top 
oi (’ash's Lookout. It had a small sig¬ 
moid fruit. This to a vivid imagina- 
* ion has somewhat the appearance of the 
human larynx, on which it has received 
the inappropriate name of H, epiglottis. 
The foliage of these Habeas is reduced 
to linear spines on account of which 
they have been sometimes mistaken for 
pines. 
Another common protea was a little 
slirul) with rather fern-like leaves. It 
is commonly, called Fairy-fern, which is 
unfortunate, a s it is not at all related 
to the ferns. The fruit, when open, is 
