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OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



Californian redwoods. The forests of giant gums, with their un- 

 dergrowth of tree-ferns and other luxuriant vegetation, are among 

 the finest in the world. 



Travelling overland from Victoria to the west coast of Australia, 

 one traverses, for the most part a region of deserts, or dry steppes 

 comparable to those of Arizona or southern California. Extensive 

 tracts show only a sparse growth of salt-bush (Atriplex, Kochia, 

 etc.) reminding one of the sage-brush desert of Nevada and Utah; 

 but for the most part there is a growth of stunted trees and shrubs, 



•••■-. • ■ 



Fig. 88. — Sandy desert near Oodnadatta, South Australia. Eucalyptus sp. Photo., 



Dr. W. A. Cannon. 



with scattered bunch-grasses, and sometimes a few showy her- 

 baceous plants. 



The commonest trees are gums of several species, the shrubby 

 ones known locally as "Mallee." Other common trees noted were 

 species of Casuarina, whose thin leafless twigs simulate pine- 

 needles, and the tree suggests a scrubby straggling pine. Cas- 

 uarina is essentially an Australian genus, although a few species, 

 especially as strand-forms, reach the western Malayan region. 



Of the shrubs, several species of Acacia and a sandal-wood 

 (Santalum), may be mentioned. In October, the golden flowers 

 of the wattles relieved the monotony of the prevailing dull green 



