The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-10-08

eS0e Botanical D1ssovsSAes In the
Snow COonePy.
Australia sas Frequently, and with Jus
to-. beon described - the boGanass1 para
49,. and Oor Joseph Banks has left on rec
ora ths tmpseDtoaS of surprised delight
nsoducsd ~ the variety. beauty and iuxu-
nance Of tbe vegetation encountsred by
the f1ch and prosperous colony Of New
South Wales IL has besn estimated that
the ceacny pcssesseU about A7e0 kinds Of
indigenous plants, In addition 70 q large
uumber Of useful plants and woods intro
oucso from other countries The number
Of native plants IL being increased By re-
cent discoveries In the snow country. in
the extrems soutosaseeFn portion Of the
colony. which = e3tsemsiy naountainous,
extsnsavs porsisas q the country bean9
above shs Snow Ina one a. the peaks.
Asunt koscuslo. rising IN test above
- jevo1
Rscsstiy J. H. Maiden. director q the
oyoaoy botanic Gardens. described the re-
suits Of visit TO Mount Knociusho. He
said tho region did not boast the posses
sion ef what might Be called snowy now
err. but % many Of thsm had Q beauty
ana . swestness particularly their own
hat It did not seem any sxAggsration 20
Gall them gems. Their beauty grew upon
one the moro they wsro studied. They
were neither saxtsh nor coarse. II such
expreosions could b used IL regard 10 any
msmbw Of the vegetable kingdom. The
range Of which Mount KosciualEo. With III
snow-cappsd summit. formed such prom
inent feature extended over . consider
able area and possessed an extensive no.
"a Vegetation ceased At an altitude OF
$50 feet For some distance only one
Mind OF fros was seen Eucalyptus cor1a-
oea. the snow gum). and II gradually d.
mintshed, until ~ what was called the
tree line II assumed the size and much
OF the appearance Of scrub. Above were
wind swept plains, 2Isntifully bsstrewn
with dwarf shrubs and tiny herbs Bo-
tanically the most interesting portion Of
Kosciusko consisted Of these plans. which
were dotted With granite masses. In the
hterstces OF which Q numb0r Of interest,"
Ing plantS thrived. In addition 70 those
most commonly found Ia the more open
country. Some Of the plants took . rock
climbing habit. assuming the shape Of the
rock to remarkable dsGrse. Others form
~ mats consisting Of dwarf plants. most
Of them constituting Z ma9 OF flowers In
the summer.
BY ynr the greater number Of flowers
we're white In color. yellow ranking next.
Though greatly inferior In number. Green
and inccnsptcuous dull yellow. and purple
ana pink were fewer sill. There was only
ono plan: bearing blue dover. but II was
very snowy one. IT had long sword
shaped leaves. and was called DianeIla
Tasmanica, and was not found higher than
the tree line. attaining Its greatest iuxuri-
Ance In the belt of stunted gums forming
the tree limit Perfume exhaiing flowers
we're somewhat scarce. a., excluding tho
few Rutaceas and Myrtaceae, whose leaves
only emitted an odor on bring crushed, the
notable perfumes appearing to be confined
TO the genera Epacris and Slnckhousia
Some specimens Of the former on the
mountain exhaled . most powerful odor
OF cloves. which IN the attenuated and
restless atmosphere Ii observed Ions dis
tances from the pearcst patch Of blossom
Slackhousia puivinaris was a dwarf yell
lowish Towering plant forming little MATS.
and II emitted perfume both powerful
and sweet. Many OF the plans became con-
siderahIy dwarfcd In size. and among them
vas mentioned the only confer found on
the mountain. II was only a couple OF
feet In height. but In the lower country 1.
grew to nearly three times that size. This
characteristic was notable In several 9TH
er plants. Including CIaytonia austraiasi-
ca. slackhousia puivinaris. Epiloblum cpn-
fertifolinm. Nertera depressa, Raouiia en-.
ifpes. Gnaphaiium japonicum. Goodenia
hedersceRe. Peufarhondra puniila. and Pr
nelen aipena The ferns were few In num-
Der. not more than hal: dozen a, the
mcsr.
one Of the most charming OF Australian
aiphin4 flowers In the dwarf and spotiessly
Tn'te Caitha introiooa. growing on the
fringe Of tho snow. II In described an be-
Ing extremely beautiful and worthy Of al.
mittance into the most select company OF
alpine plants. Botanical students visiting
Australia viii fsd much TO ensross their
attention In the New South Wales snow
country. and probably be enabled 10 dis
cover fresh forms OF alpine plant life. hut
their Investigations muet he made during
the warmer period ~ the year. from Mo-
vembcr 20 February. the seasons IN the
northern hemiphere being reversed IN the
southern Pail Mail Gazette
MONARCBs TRAVELLING gNCOGSgTO.