president's address — SECTION D. 185 



" The lines of the watercourses are marked by belts of gum trees 

 and acacias : Eucalyptus rostrata, the river gum ; Eucalyptus micro- 

 theca, the swamp gum ; Acacia aneura, the mulga ; Acacia cypero- 

 phylla, the red mulga, a very local tree extending across a narrow belt 

 of country from east to west, a little way to the north of the Old 

 Macumba Station ; and the stinking acacia, A. Cambagei. 



" On the loamy flats, and even gibber plains, the most noticeable 

 plant is Salsola Kali, popularly known as the roly-poly. It is, when 

 mature, one of the characteristic prickly plants of the Lower Steppes, 

 and forms great spherical masses perhaps a yard or more in diameter. 

 It is a constant feature of the Cretaceous area, and gradually disap- 

 peared as we passed northwards into the Silurian district. 



" The thin, poor scrub is made up largely of Cassias, Eremophilas, 

 HaJceas, and Grevilleas. all thinly scattered about, and with hard, spiny, 

 or coriaceous leaves. Now and again, especially on the upland stony 

 plains, were patches of saltbush [Atriplex rhagodioides), the foliage of 

 which has the characteristic and well-known blue-grey tint, caused 

 by the presence of a ' mealy ' secretion on the leaves, which is pro- 

 bably of service in checking too rapid evaporation. The ground is not 

 like that which one is accustomed to in moister parts ; tussocks of 

 grass, such as Spinifex paradoxus, are scattered about, with little plants 

 of the red-stemmed and poisonous Euphorbia Drummondii, or of one 

 or two species of Ptilotus (P. exaltatus and incanus), but they are not 

 crowded together, and you can count the separate plants. It was not 

 at all unusual to see a small patch of ground occupied entirely by a 

 colony of one species of a plant such as Ptilotus. Along by the river 

 flats the clusters of red fruit of the Darling or Murray lily (g) were 

 frequently seen, whilst in the wet season its white flowers are a 

 striking feature along the Stevenson Valley." 



Valuable notes on the Lower Steppes plants will be found at pp. 

 15, 16, 28, 29, 33, 38, 46, 47, 49, 57, 59. 



Then we take the Higher Steppes, the southern part of the James 

 Kange and the George Gill and Levi ranges (Chap. IV.), while Chap. VI. 

 deals with the Macdonnell Ranges portion of the Higher Steppes. 



For botanical notes of the Higher Steppes see pp. 67, 74, 75, 77 

 (Cycads, Encephalartos MacDonnelli). For the botany of the 

 Macdonnell Ranges see pages 106 [Styphelia Mitchelli, the only Epacrid 

 found on the expedition), 114 (charming scenes of cycads and palms, 

 Livistona Marice), 119 {Melaleuca, Ficus, Capparis, Grevillea, Loran- 

 thus, Hibbertia), 121 (here Hermannsburg, see Rev. H. Kempe, p. 187), 

 with the usual scrub of mallee gum (principally Eucalyptus oleosa), 

 mulga. Cassias and Eremophilas, with occasionally very fine specimens, 

 up to 40ft. or 50ft., of Acacia salicina. At page 125, vicinity of Parsley 

 Bluff, Eucalyptus terniinalis, a species of Melaleuca (40ft.), Cassia 

 glutinosa and Grevillea agrifolia. 



Chapter V. is devoted to the desert country. At page 81 we note 

 " a fine sandhill gum. Eucalyptus eudesmoides, which reached a height 

 of 50ft. to 80ft." The pituri plant, Duboisia moyporoides, grows here. 

 {g) This is an Amaryllid plant, Crinum flaccidum. 



