ARID PORTIONS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 91 



Vegetation. 



Views from the low hills at Tarcoola reveal a fairly abundant as 

 well as fairly varied vegetation. As far as the eye can reach shrubs 

 and small trees give the prevailing tone, gray-green, to the landscape, 

 with here and there darker patches of green or lighter masses of gray. 

 There are saltbushes in plenty on the flats and scrub elsewhere. One 

 can identify the dark-green "sandal-wood," the "tea-trees," the "oaks," 

 as well as the "mulga" and "myall." That there is considerable vege- 

 tation in the region is further suggested by the fact, as mentioned 

 above, that it constitutes a portion of the Wilgena Run, which at one 

 time supported 30,000 sheep, in addition to numerous cattle and camels. 



The habitats examined during my short stay at Tarcoola comprised 

 ths low, fiat, granitic hills close to town, the slopes of these hills, and 

 the lowlands about them and to the north. In this reconnaissance 

 only the most conspicuous features of the vegetation were taken into 

 account. 



The hills appear to be the most arid of all the habitats. This is 

 owing to the coarse character of the soil. We find, accordingly, that 

 the ve etation of the hills is relatively sparse and also that it is of a 

 characteristic markedly xerophytic kind. The slopes of the hills 

 carry the largest number of species as well as the greatest number of 

 individuals. Of the hills' vegetation, the following species constitute 

 a prominent part: Acacia aneura, A. rigens, A. tarcuHensis, A. tetragon- 

 ophylla, Cassia sturtii, Casuarina lepidophloia, Eremophila latrohei, E. 

 rotundifoUa, E. paisleyi, Trichinium incanum, and others. 



Acacia aneura, the "mulga," is sparingly abundant on the southern 

 slopes of the granite hill, which for convenience will here be referred 

 to as Gold Hill, from the mining operations carried on, near and south- 

 west of Tarcoola village. It occurs to a certain extent also on other 

 portions of the hill. In and by the side of a shallow wash on the 

 southern side of Gold Hill, in addition to A. aneura, are to be found 

 A. tetragonophylla, A. tarculiensis, and Trichinium incanum. The 

 last named, a low, rounded shrub, occurs only sparingly on the southern 

 slope of the hill. 



On the eastern side of Gold Hill is a fau-ly dense population of shrubs, 

 mainly halophytes, of which Kochia decaptera appears to be the most 

 numerous. Here also occur Casuarina lepidophloia and Eremophila 

 rotundifoUa, as well as scattering specimens of E. latrohei and Acacia 

 tarculiensis. Eremophila rotundifoUa is a very striking shrub. The 

 shoot is of open habit of growth. The leaves are small, saddle-shaped, 

 and leathery in texture (plate 24b). No species of the genus, seen 

 at Tarcoola or elsewhere, is a more evident xerophyte than this one. 



The lower slopes of Gold Hill, where the soil is relatively moist 

 because of seepage, have a fairly abundant perennial flora, much of 



