HORN EXPEDITION — BOTANY. 129 



are wiVlfly dispersed over tlie low-level tracts, though some ascend to In'f^h eleva- 

 tions on the rocky country. Tlie rare instances of species with such aids for 

 dispersal, whicli are local and saxatile, are Acliyranthes aspersa and P/itiii/'a_i:^(> 

 Zeylanica. The only species of endemic genera whose fruits possess clinging appen- 

 dages, which would aid their transport by the agency of animals, belong to Cnlofis, 

 all of which inhabit the lowland areas. The feathery achenes of some Composita', 

 except perhaps in Se/iea'o, are not sufficiently buoyant to be useful aids in their 

 distribution unless under the influence of very high winds, which w(M'e not at all 

 experienced daring our stay. The same remark applies to the winged fruits of 

 Afalaya, etc., to the coma-bearing .seeds of the Asclepiads, Hibiscus, etc., and to 

 the winged seeds of Casuarina, Tecoiiia, etc. 



The number of species bearing edible fruits is absolutely few. They belong 

 for the most part to species of endemic genera, and, with the exception of Aiitlw- 

 I'oliis and Sfypluiia, which are saxatile and very rare, are widely ditlused over the 

 low levels. Tn Afehfhria and CiiCHiiiis we have two exotic forms widely diffused, 

 and in Treiiia, another exotic, saxatile and rare. We know too little of the 

 natural foods of the native birds to make them accountable for the diffusion of 

 plant species, the seeds or fruits of which they may live on. The emu, which is 

 actually known to be an ;igent in the dispersal of Saiifaliiiii, may also play the 

 same riUe in regard to other sjiecies yielding pulpy fiaiits. The parr()ts and pigeons 

 daring the time of our sojourn were feeding on graminaceous seeds. The little 

 Dicaeiim hiriiiidinacetiiii lives chiefly on the Ijerries of Lonuitluis spp., and in 

 consequence the distril)ution of the Inrd is coterminous with that of its food-j)lants. 

 Tasmania and Kangaroo Island, where the bird is absent, do not possess a single 

 species of Lorantluis. Thus, though among the lowland vegetation there are many 

 species possessing advantages for their dispersal, yet among the .saxatile vegetation 

 such properties are almost wholly wanting. The details are set forth in the 

 foUowiu" table : — • 



{a) Biirr-like Fruits — 



Triumft^tta micracantha 

 Triljulus terrcstris 

 Acliyranthes aspera - 

 Bassia, spp. 

 Salsola kali 

 Daucus bi'achiatus 

 (Jlossogyne tenuifolia 



Genera 1 

 Sp. 

 Exotic. 



Exotic. 

 Sp. 

 Eiideniic. 



Genera 

 Endemic. 



Distribution. 



- 



X 



- 



Very rare. 



X 





- 



Lowland, wide-spread. 



X 





- 



Saxatile, local. 



- 



X 



- 



Lowland, several wide spread. 



X 





- 



Lowland, wide-.spread. 



X 





- 



Lowland, w ide-spread. 



X 





- 



Lowland, common. 



