90 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



Distribution of Species. 



The area under examination may be said to comprise four 

 well-marked re,i;;'ions, each broadly characterised by the 

 presence of certain species of plants which impart a distinct 

 physioo-riomy to the situations wherein they flourish. 



If a line is drawn parallel to the coast line at a distance 

 of G miles, it will be found that up to an elevation of 300 

 feet above sea level the vegetation differs from that found in 

 the gullies and valleys further inland up to the flanks of the 

 coast range to, say 4000 feet elevation ; that the crests of 

 the ridges within the middle area contain species not found 

 in the gullies ; and that in the more open table land north of 

 the coast range there are abundance of sub-alpine species not 

 found in an}-^ of the other areas or situations. 



The Coastal Regions. 



Along the sand hannnocks, Salsolacese and Ficoidefe prevail 

 — Rhagodia, Ohenopodium, Atriplex, and Mesembrianthemum 

 (or pig's face) ; and in the hollows, such Myrtaceous shrubs 

 as Melaleuca armillaris, Kunzea corifolia, Leptospermura 

 myrsinoides ; and grasses, as Zoysia pungens. Jn the open 

 undulating coastlands, between belts of Eucalyptus, including 

 the mahogany E. botryoides and abundance of Banksia 

 serrata, are grass-tree flats with Xanthorrea Australis, and 

 X. minor — the dwarfed sheoak, Casuarina paludosa, in the 

 undulating sand hills, where the timber vegetation is more 

 prolific, an abundance of Caustis flexuosa and L3'copodiura 

 densum, Ricinocarpus pinifolius, and other shrubby and 

 herbaceous species, together with a great number of species 

 less peculiar to the coastal areas as Epacris impressa, 

 Hibbertias, Styphelias. To enumerate them would extend 

 this paper to an unusual length. 



Inland Region. — Gullies and River Flats. 



The most arboreous vegetation is found in the moist 

 gullies and on the river flats, and with the exception of the 

 hollows or lowest points in the ridges yields characteristic 

 forms, differing from those on the ridges. Among many such 

 arboreous forms may be mentioned the Waratah (Telopea 

 oreades), the native musk (Aster argophyllus), Lillypillies, 



