BY DR. KAREL DOMIN. 63 



they are in harmony with the special conditions on the 

 sea-coast. A strong wi;nd usually blows here, the trees are 

 richly branched, with very hard horizontal branches and 

 often with a dense top. The leaves are usuallv verv coria- 

 ceous, and epiphytic plants are not too numerous. We find 

 this type of scrub both in North and South Queensland. 



Dealing with the sea-coast we may mention the other 

 plant-associations found here. On the salt-water swamps 

 along the coast, but only in sheltered positions, and along 

 the rivers as far as the tide reaches, are usually found 

 Mangrove Swamps, w^hich show a most wonderful adapta- 

 tion for these extraordinary localities. 



On sand and sand-hill (dunes) near the coast there is 

 in many places a special association consisting of very 

 scattered plants, which are creeping, with long, deeply 

 rooting stolons. It is wonderful how the members of dif- 

 ferent orders growing here under the same surrounding 

 circumstances assume the same appearance. We find here 

 grasses {Spinifex, Zoysia, etc), nut grasses, pea-flowering 

 plants (Papilionaceae) and especially one convolvulaceous 

 plant — Ipomoea Pes Caprae or the so-called Goat's-foot. 

 The last-mentioned plant is very common in the same plant 

 association in different tropics, and provides a good name 

 for the whole association {Pes-caprae-association). Later 

 on plenty of other herbs and especially shrubs appear on 

 these sandy localities near the sea-coast. This shrubby 

 association is splendidly developed in the Southern portion 

 of Queensland, from Frazer's Island to the islands of More- 

 ton Bay, also on some of the Reef Islands. We find here 

 a great number of different shrubs, most of them of the same 

 mode of growth, but belonging to different families. At 

 the time when most of its component members a/re in flower 

 (August and September), this association is the most wonder- 

 ful in the whole State, as no other offers such a quantity 

 of showy flowers as this. The different EpacridaceoB, 

 Myrtaceae, Papilionaceae, etc., are at this season covered 

 with thousands of blossoms. 



In fresh-water swamps, especially near the sea, there 

 is usually found a most remarkable association, which de- 

 serves the name of Tea Tree Swamps, as the prevailing trees 

 and shrubs are usually called " Tea-tree." There are 

 many different Myrtaceae, often with she-oaks {Casuarina), 



