7/28/2019 TasNat 1925 No1 Vol2 Pp11-14 Harris NotesScottsdale

1/4

THE TASMANIAN NATURALISTA llluC'h lllore delicate and handsomeplant is Lady Fern. Thi. bears a largeleaf divided into smaller and smaller divisions till it assumes the appearance of lace.The whole plant is covered with fine hairswhich greatly add to the softness of itsappearance. Accompanying this in wetbush is generally found a robust plantwith tall opening irond. I t is pale green,hairless and fleshy. Someone gave it thename of Oak Fern, which could be improved. There is a group of ferns, somemembel's of which we are bound to meet\..ith. known in t'he "Old Country" ast;pleenwortf3, from someFancied Resemblance to the Spleen.

This grouv is marked by the structure ofthe spore bearing bodies. The mass ofspore sacks is known as a sorus, and ifi t is covered by a membrane when young,this membrane is called an indusium. ASpleenwort may be known by the sorj. being much longer tuan broad, situated on

~ ~ ~ e m ~ : : ~ ~ o ~ ! i ~ d u s l i ~ % . a n ~ h ~ ~ : e r a e r ~ ~ b o u ~half a dozen Spleenworts in Tasmania. The)larine Fern and Shelf Fern are familiarexamples.

M a i d e n ~ h a i r and Parsley Ferns everyone~ ~ ~ ~ S f e ~ ~ l t a : a t f i n ~ t C i ~ l : e C ~ { r t l l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l e i ;and Carrot famIly of flowering plants, andyery poisonous. I t is known to chemistsConium, or commonly as Hemlock.Some years ago children on th e NorthCoast were poisoned by eating its seed.

H D ~ r a t e s was compelled to take his ownlife by drinking an infusion of Hemlock

Umbrella Fern i . ofA Very AncIent Type,

and has a peculia.r habit. The leaf isdivided in two a.nd next year a new shootarises from th-e fork of these divisions; theyear after a shoot from each division and80 on. When some years have passed, theleaf is very long, _ with many tiers of annualgrowth. The Wire Fern and the Tangle}l"'ern have a similar habit.

There IS a group of ferns which have astyle of spore bearing rather different fromthat adopted by any others, namely, thewelldeveloped leaf does not bear spores,but the fertile leaf is always shrunken andlooks like part dead fronds. These arecalled Tomarias. This name is soeuphonious and easy, it may very well beeleva ted to the standard or a popularname. The Bro()k Fern already referredto is one of them j another is that verycommon dark ~ r e e n plant so often carpetiog our damp g-uIlies that it may well becalled the Carpet Fern.

The only other ~ r o u p I should like torefer to is that of the Filmy Ferns. Thereare about seven forms o-f them, growingmainly on Treeferns, on bark or sometimes on the ground. Many are of S:ngular beauty, others have special interest forthe student. One forms lines only on thebark of K i l l ~ William Pine. I t is del:selyhairy, and 16 capable of reviving afterhaving been completely dried, a capabilitynot at all common.

L. Rodway.

.Notes on the Scottsdale DistrictA holiday a t SC'ottsctalt: gave milnyportllllities for llature study. and the 101-lowing remarks 2.re extracts fro-m nolesmadE' from tir..Je to time during m y Eta;y

III 1 ha! district.A favorite walk was along a gra,S8Y

1

7/28/2019 TasNat 1925 No1 Vol2 Pp11-14 Harris NotesScottsdale

2/4

THE TASMANIAN KATURALIST' - - ~be a f J . a m e ~ h . l e a s t e d robin on the fence,and his uainty l i t t le brown lady flying:oIomewherc near. Very often the littlethornbill will he there. They are amUR-iug to watch, as they fly on tll(> bentstem of the bracken and twist and h:lJ1aiong it. They appeal' ,1 . t i n i ~ " t o I'di(h'from one end to another in their nQrricdsearch fu r insects. -

"\Vhile resting there watching t h ~ ~ \ > 'birds, I could hear jw:;t the very faintestrustle amongst the delH", lea\"e:'l, anll asI moved the sound ceased, so I care'fully moved away with my w3.1kingstick the surface leaves until I finallydisclosed a young, half-grhwn bluetongup.d lizard (generally misnamed a"goanna") . I t lay partly curled up,\Jut remained quite still while IT admii'Pllits pletty r n a r k i n g ~ and y.ellow-brownspots. t carefully laid the leavE'S overit again to ' see i f i t would move; butI t remained perfectly still.

T h i ~ lane opens out into I t big grassymeadow where young cattle graze:flock!:'! of starling!?, chattering, feAd here.and a pair have their nest in a holea way up near the top of a very talldead gum. There is evidently room toturn, as one bird will fly in and disappearfor a !':cond. and then appears a t thee n t r a l l ~ e and surve):; the fields far lH"I(lw from his lofty home.

Another introduced bird of ..vh:chthere are numbers is the pret ty gold'finch. I t will often alight 011 the to;:>af a thitlltle, no doubt receiving the I am"of thistle-finch from the fact.

A cuckoo will I-lettle OIl the fence an 1th e pipit feeds amongst the gl'aRS; butkeeps his distance from me, as I wendmy w ay down to a sheltered bend ofthe little creek, bordered on this sirlewith blackberry and fallen logs, anathe opposite sidE' with bracken ree "s,young bJackw{)od and wattle, a fp"vgum trees and several deall treps. A firehad evidelltly passed through l a ~ t s mmer.

I have spent many happy h0l1rS t h e ~ ejust listening to the b i r d ~ . and keepingvery quif!t and still. Sometimes aBandicoot Will Come

011t from under thp b-racKtlerry and wander along a t the Hide of the log whereI am sitting. He will feed on the grassand come nearer and work his w ay unrJprm y log, and appear again on thp oth"'rside, so close to me th:lt I could putout my hand and touch him.

A young rahbit peeped out of his re t reat and played abol1t in the grass,then hopped upon a log lying parallel(12)

with .mine. He came quietly along untIlhe was level with me. then sa t up andvery daintily performed an elaboratetoilet, taking much care over the washing of each forepaw. He watched mefor a few minutes, his ears moving ashe listened for any strange sound, thenhe scampered off, his little white tailbobbing, and disappeared into the blackberry.

1'h81'e are only three sounds to hear,the rippling creek. the drowsy murmur,J;>cetles, and flies, and the wonderful~ l l l g i n ~ of many wild birds which fillsth0 air 'with sweEt music. A goldfirchflew down 'from its perch on the boughof a bare t ree ' into a t iny patch of grass,and its perfect rBilC'ction showed dearlyin the wate.r, making a charming moving picture as it m o , , ~ u feeuing in thegrass.

T ~ r e are three black and',\.vhite fantails in a blackwood, and they aJ'P const

7/28/2019 TasNat 1925 No1 Vol2 Pp11-14 Harris NotesScottsdale

3/4

THE TASMANIAN NATURALISTHere I have s ~ e n the fiarnebl'eastedrotil . aad mate, his favorite" tree being a small dead wattle, where hemakes a lovely touch of color perched

O! 1 Cl bough. Both the pallid cuckoo.and the fan-! alled cuckoo are here. andI have watched a t:ny thornbill gIve excitt'd chase to the latter attempting tofly above and making very determinedefforts to Deck at the cuckoo's head.

There is one beautiful firetail here,and appears only just about this p: l r tof the creek. I have ~ e e n i t with itshe:1d into a blackberry bush after in s e c t ~ . appearing Uke '.l very vivid redautumn leaf until it turned i:self about

7/28/2019 TasNat 1925 No1 Vol2 Pp11-14 Harris NotesScottsdale

4/4

THE TASMANIAN NATURALISTand all three cuddled up closely together. Overhead a long, dried frondof the fet'n dropped, and little shaftsof sunlight filtered through the foliage above, touching the soft, downyteuthers of the babies and warmingthem. SittIng thus, they blended perfactly into the coloring around them,and only when they heanl the wel('ume sound of H parent returning withfood. and little heads and yellow beaksmoved. could I see what they were.\Vhen returning from a walk on theLietinnu 1';)1\Willows, whose young, delicate tintedleaves glisten in the sunlight afterrllin. and beautiful yellOW, golden yellow, buttercups stand upright abovetheir dark green foliage, and tiny wildviolets grow thickly upon the bank,keeping c1O!'1e to their mother earth. Inthis Quiet glade at the edge of thedear. funning watel'S of the Little Forrester, overhead. in the tall trees wildpigeons (bronzewlng). pa,rrots, andother birds fly undisturbed, arid giveQuite El romantic finish to the charm ofthe bush. I1a M. Harri.

Some Notes on the " Watile " or " Acacia"The word "wattle" iA one which wC'in Australia have peculiarly adopted Cl"our own. I t dates from Anglo-Saxontimes and signifies twigs or saplings orflexible rods plaited or interwoven together. The ,,",ork has come down tomodern days, and when early Rettlerflcame to Australia they found i t COIlyenient to construct the framework ofthe wans of their dwe11inu:s and other

buildin,z:s of twigs and split sanlings: theoperation was called "wattling" and thematerial used "wattle." Near Sydne;vCoye there grew in abundance. o y e r h a n ~ -the water courses, a small tree withsmall thin flexible stems, which waFl frequently nsed for the pnrpose, nnd hr-ncE?

I

(14)

was ealled "wattle" or "black wattle."Subseqnently other phmts which wcnow call acacias were used for the purpose. aud these are recognised i'lS "wattles" in most parts of this continent or'Australia whether th(!ir stems and twigsare used for wattling or not. The term"wattle" is, however, by no means universally applied to plants of the genusnearin, partirnlarly in the far westernnartfl of the State of New South 'Vales.Myal!. Boree, Mulga, Brigalow, Cooba.nead Finish. Gidp:e-e, Hickory, ~ 1 i l i g e e ,PmbreIIa-bush. vVait-a-whiIe, and Yarranall belong to the great wattle family.The origin of th e name acacia is notabsolutely free from doubt, but the most

t