IV THE NORTH AND WEST COAST 121 



plateaux of the centre and east. My observations 

 on this scrub were made upon the summit of 

 Mount Read, one of a series of peaks running 

 north and south from the township of Roseberry 

 down to Mount Lyell and Macquarie Harbour. 

 The scrub on the top of Mount Read, which is 

 typical of all the west coast summits, is charac- 



FiG. 35. 

 D. The Deciduous Beech {Fagus Gunnii). 

 E. The Myrtle or Evergreen Beech {Fagus CunningJiami)^ 



terized by the quantity of stunted tree-shrubs, 

 many of which are quite peculiar to this region. 

 Foremost in interest and quite peculiar to the 

 west coast of Tasmania is the deciduous Beech 

 (Fagus Gunnii) (Fig. 35, D), the only native tree 

 in Australia which regularly casts its leaves in 

 winter. It is a pretty shrub, and its fresh green 

 and rather large succulent leaves at once mark 

 it out as a quite peculiar element in the flora. 



