BOTANICAL NOTES 
By L. RODWAY, C.M.G. 
To one who has been Jh'ng amongst 
the vegetation of Southern Tasmania 
for some time it came as r,n agreeable 
change to roam arrongs: the plants of 
Sehouten Island. It appeared almost 
as if the llora was that of a separate 
country, so different is the verdure from 
that of the soutii and west. Distribu¬ 
tion of plants is not yet well under¬ 
stood, but very probably soil and pre¬ 
cipitation are two potent factors. As 
very fe-.v of our native plants have popu¬ 
lar names, we shall have n these notes 
to be satisfied with their scientific ap¬ 
pellations. 
The ubiquitous gum tree was ever¬ 
present. Tlie forms which made up 
nearly the whole of the forest were va¬ 
rieties of peppermint. The whole of 
the island except the seashore and gra¬ 
nitic heads of hills was covered by open 
forest; that is. forest not forming close 
canopy and allowing a considerable 
growth of shrubs and herbs due to the 
penetration of direct sunlight. The pep¬ 
permints are slow-growing trees, but 
which can live on poor dry soils. They 
get smothered by the more -obust types 
in better and wetter localities, yet if 
they are small and of slow growth they 
make up for this by producing a tim¬ 
ber of great durability. 
Besides euealypts, the only trees not¬ 
ed were she-oak, which was in great, 
quantity, and promises a good return 
when harvested, and Oysiet Bay pine 
(C'allitris tusmnnica). 
Amongst the pen-flowers the Ruriing 
Postman . .vennedya pros)rata), with its 
crimson Mowers, was creeping every¬ 
where; so also was Platylobium trim- 
gtilare, with its acutely triangular 
leaves.. Oompliolobium lui gelii, with 
its pale foliage and sulphur-coloured 
flowers, was common, so also was Gly¬ 
cine clandestine, n little trifoil twin¬ 
ing amongst the undergrowth. Two 
sundews were very common, namely— 
Drosera hinata, with leaves like a tun¬ 
ing fork, and Drosera spathulata, with 
a rosette of dark red spathulate leaves 
at the base of the erect .lowering stalk. 
There were two interesting species of 
the Sterulea family, very common, Spy- 
ridium eriocephalum, ehietty peculiar 
because the Mower head is subtended by 
two spreading pure white bracts, which 
look very like petals; and Lusiopetalum 
dasyphyllum, which somewhat resembles 
our common Dogwood. A rather scarce 
member of the Boronla trimly, namely, 
Eriostemon litldebrandii, wa* plentiful. 
A parasitic plant, Cnssytha melantha, 
covered many sheokes with a coarse, 
stringy growth. It is often called mis¬ 
tletoe, because of its parasitic habit; 
but it is no relation of the true mis¬ 
tletoe. Strange it may vein, but Cas- 
sytha belongs to the true laurels. Com¬ 
posites were not numerous, but the Hue 
everlasting, Helichrysum bi aeteatuin, oc¬ 
curred along the coast. Tbe heath fam¬ 
ily was poorly represents.!. Cranberry 
was common, so was the coastal cur¬ 
rant. I.eucopogon rieliei, while the rare 
Tasmanian Pentaeho.ndra inrolvcratu was 
gathered about the tops o! the moun¬ 
tain peaks. 
Amongst lower plants, a small cut¬ 
ting grass, Galinia microstachya, was 
everywhere. Kerns were not various. 
The commonest was the wire-fern Glei- 
ehenin dicarpa, which in some places 
grew into a cristite form. The com¬ 
mon heath tern, Lindsaya. linearis, was 
robust, while the far from common Sohi- 
fcea bifida occurred occasionally. 
Mosses and fungi were very poorly 
represented, but the algae was well sup¬ 
ported by its giant amongst seaweeds. 
Floating kelp, kmown to science as Ma- 
croeystis pyrifera. the Oyster JSay 
pine above referred to really is not a 
pine, but a cypress. Unfortunately its 
growth is too slow to warrant it Be¬ 
ing used in afforestation work. Its tim¬ 
ber is good, but small. 
13 
