53° 



ZONES AND REGIONS [Pt. Ill, Sect. II 



unfit for cultivation, changing from loamy clay to pure sand ; the surface is covered 

 with fragments of silicious rock, ferruginous sand, and ironstone; of water in these 

 tracts there is no indication. The vegetation is of a stunted character, and the scrub 

 is nearly destitute of grasses and other herbage ; the few genera of the first are 

 mostly Neurachne, Stipa, Isolepis, Spinifex, the well-known kangaroo grass, An- 

 thistiria ciliata, and a few Juncaceae, viz. Xerotes glauca, R. Br., and X. filiformis, 

 R. Br. ; these grow only in tufts, considerably apart from each other. The absence 

 of other herbage is as great during the summer; but this almost entire deficiency is 



Fig. 296. Sclerophyllous flora of West Australia. Species of Acacia. 1. A. armat 

 2. A. marginata, R. Br. 3. A. decipiens, R. Br. 4. A. alata, R. Br. Natural 



compensated by an endless variety of genera and species of shrubs. The general 

 impression given by the scrub is dismal, although the great variety of shrubby plants 

 associated there make it highly interesting to the botanist. These shrubs reach 

 generally the height of four to six feet, interspersed with stunted and ramified trees 

 of the genera Casuarina (Casuarinaceae), Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae), Santalum (Santa- 

 laceae), Melaleuca (Myrtaceae), Exocarpus (Santalaceae), Camphoromyrtus (Myrta- 

 ceae), Dodonaea (Sapindaceae), Frenela (Coniferae), Banksia (Proteaceae, Fig. 297, 

 1), &c. Smaller shrubs of the genera Pimelea (Proteaceae, Fig. 295,3), Leucopogon 

 (Epacridaceae, Fig. 298, 7), Dillwynia (Papilionaceae), Hibbertia (Dilleniaceae), 



