546 



Tlie plants have rather small leaves, which are spread- 

 ing, and, especially in Kochia sedifolia, distinctly succulent. 

 It seems possible that these plants not only store up water in 

 their leaves when rain falls, but also possess the power of 

 absorbing moisture directly by their leaves by means of the 

 hairs or scales. All the residents, both here and in other arid 

 parts of the State, remark on the obvious freshening up of 

 the bluebush or saitbush that occurs immediately after rain. 

 On the other hand, the hairy covering may well be correlated 

 with the intense light and heating that the plants in such a 

 habitat have to withstand. 



The severity of the conditions for perennial plants here 

 is expressed. both in the open nature of the communities and 

 also in a striking way by the amount and number of dead 

 plants that occur (pi. xxxii., figs. 1,2). Whole stretches may 

 be seen, extending a mile or more, in w^hich all the perennials 

 are dead, presumably killed by drought. No evidence of fire 

 was noticed, not even in the neighbourhood of the railway 

 track, and, except at the margins of the plain, little effect has 

 been produced by the ubiquitous rabbit. 



Besides these perennial plants a very considerable number 

 of annual species occur on the plain between the bushes of 

 Kochia and A triple:/'. The amount and nature of these 

 annuals vary according to the season at which the rain falls, 

 and at certain times may temporarily alter the whole general 

 appearance. At the time of our visit very little rain had fallen 

 for some time previously, and this therophyte flora was poorly 

 developed. One of the most abundant annuals was Salsola 

 kali, var. strohilifera, which at this season was dead. The 

 plant occurs in great abundance in parts, and appears especi- 

 ally to spread where the Kochia has been killed off. Other 

 very generally distributed annuals were Cephalipterum 

 Drumtnondii, Zygophyllum ovaPam, Angianthus to/nentosus, 

 Gnephoisis cj/athopappa, Goodenia pinnaU-fida, Goodenia 

 pusillifora, HeUpterum pygmaeum, Lepidium phlehopetalum^ 

 Echinosperinum concavum^ Iso'etopsis gratninifolia, and 

 Tetragonia expansa^ also Bassia scleroloenioides, perennial. Of 

 these the first two were the most abundant or most prominent. 

 Cephalipterum especially, with its white flower-heads, gave 

 quite a character to the plains. 



At the time of our visit grasses were remarkable for their 

 scarcity; a few scattered plants of Danthcyriia 2J^n'i cilia fa and 

 Stipa setacea and Sfipa sicahra were noticed, but so few that 

 nowhere on the plain was grass vegetation at all prominent. 

 At other times these grasses, and especially Stijja, sp., may 

 become a marked feature after good rains. At the time of 

 our visit most of the Stipa plants noted were dead. 



