54 
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
[Vol. io. 
Proteaceae are extremely abundant in this region, over thirty species 
being recorded. First in size in the dryer soils were some half-dozen species 
of Banksia, the largest, B. serrata, being a very characteristic small tree, 
with thick, rough, corky bark and conspicuously serrated leaves. Few fresh 
flowers were seen, but the remains of the last year’s inflorescences were 
conspicuous. The flowers are in dense oblong heads and are known locally 
as “honeysuckle.” Several Grevilleas were common, and, in addition to 
the species observed in the open country above, there were other species 
as well as species of Lomatia, Xylomelum, Petrophila, and Isopogon. 
Several species of Persoonia were common, their glossy, bright-green leaves 
differing much from the foliage of most Proteaceae. The waratah ( Telopea 
speciosissima ) was not uncommon but not yet in full flower. About Sydney 
it was in full bloom, and the gorgeous blood-red inflorescence, surrounded 
by big scarlet bracts, make it one of the most magnificent of the many 
beautiful Australian flowers. 
The characteristic Leguminosae and Myrtaceae, Casuarinas, and other 
shrubs were associated with the Proteaceae, and also several forms not 
seen at the top. Two Cunoniaceae were noted, viz., Bauera rubioides, a 
prostrate shrub with pink flowers, and Callicoma serratifolia, a tall shrub 
with large, serrate leaves. 
The dripping rock walls supported a characteristic flora. In a mass of 
oozy material, partly made up of algae, were some most interesting liver¬ 
worts, mosses, and ferns, as well as a good many flowering plants. Among 
the latter were some particularly beautiful heaths ( Epacris sp.) with pink 
and white flowers, and several species of sundews abounded in these miniature 
bogs. One of these (probably Drosera binata ) had leaves with petioles a 
foot or more in length and the forking laminae as broad as one’s hand, 
divided into narrow segments covered with the characteristic tentacles. 
In contrast to this giant species were tiny flat, cushion forms more like 
those of northern bogs. 
As elsewhere in Australia, herbaceous plants are not very much in 
evidence, and only a few of them, like species of Ranunculus and Viola, are 
familiar to the northern botanist. Two characteristic orchids were noted, 
one a species of Pterostylis with curious greenish flowers, known popularly 
as “green-hoods,” the other a small epiphytic Dendrobium which, however, 
was not in flower. 
The bottom of the gorges supports a fine forest, of somewhat the same 
type as that seen in the National Park. Magnificent eucalypts, with tall 
trunks and lofty crowns, were associated with the nearly related genera 
Angophora and Syncarpia, and the fine Tristania nereifolia. Two species 
of Eugenia are also found in this forest, as well as Stenocarpus sinuatus, 
belonging to the Proteaceae. Pittosporum undulatum also occurs, and 
Pomaderris elliptica (Rhamnaceae). 
The forest in these moist gorges is very similar to that in southern 
Queensland, and approximates the mixed rain forest of that region. 
