To exaggerate any of her methods were needless. She is never ugly, for
in her seemingly forbidding moods she wears a smiling face. The smiles
may not be apparent to all, but they are there for those who expect and
look for them.
Let a mangrove swamp be taken as an illustration of an untoward aspect
of Nature, and see whether among the apparent confusion, and the mud and
slime and the unpleasant odours, there are not many proofs of
good humour, kindly disposition, real prettiness, and orderly and
systematic purpose.
On the deltas and banks of all the rivers and creeks of North Queensland
and on many of the more sheltered beaches, the mangrove flourishes, that
ambitious tree which performs an important function in the scheme of
Nature. Its botanical title reveals its special character--Rhizaphora.
Very diverse indeed are the means by which plants are distributed. While
some are borne, some fly and others float. The mangrove is maritime.
While still pendant from the pear-shaped fruit of the parent tree, the
seed, a spindle-shaped radicle, varying in length from a foot to 4 feet,
germinates--ready to form a plant immediately upon arrival at a suitable
locality.
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