.74 PLANT HABITS AND HABITATS IN THE 



Mono-Specific Communities. 



Although the hill-slope habitat is here treated as a single unit, it is 

 nevertheless far from uniform. However, as this habitat is well 

 drained and hence the soil is well aerated, with relatively good water 

 relations and various aspects, it may be proper to group the different 

 slopes into one habitat. One of the features of the habitat is that any 

 one element, for example the slope of a hill, is cf relatively large area, so 

 that the environmental conditions of the particular area are correspond- 

 ingly of relatively wide extent. This uniformity of environmental 

 conditions extending over a relatively wide area is doubtless responsible 

 for the frequent occurrence of a single species only, particularly of 

 perennials, thoughout such an area. Thus it happens that mono- 

 specific communities are common in the Copley region. Some of these 

 will be mentioned here. The most conspicuous are those of various 

 species of Eremophila. Of these, the ones along or accessible from the 

 Mount Series road may be considered typical and need only be de- 

 scribed. 



To the east of the village the Copley Plain pushes into the hills, 

 forming a bay-like area, with hills to the south, ending at the west in 

 Table Mountain and lower hills on the north. The plain rises about 

 1.5 miles from the village and insensibly merges into gentle slopes which 

 descend from the hiUs on the south. At the place in mind there is a 

 considerable outcropping of slate or shale. With its northern aspect 

 the habitat is relatively warm and is subject to the north winds, which 

 at times are hot and dry. On this slope occurs Eremophila freelingii, 

 solely among perennials. This is a shrub about 1,5 meters in height, 

 with an open habit of growth. The leaves are numerous and fairly 

 crowded towards the ends of the branches (plate 9a). They are of 

 leathery texture, about 3 cm. in length, and somewhat viscid. In 

 the middle of July, when the area was first studied, they bore large 

 numbers of lavender-colored flowers. No measurements were made 

 nor computations of the populations per unit area. It can be seen 

 from plate 10b, however, that the shrubs occur but sparsely. An- 

 other area, in which E. freelingii occurs to the exclusion of other species 

 of perennials, is by the Mount Serle road and about 5 miles east of 

 Copley. Here are rounded slate hills also and the conditions are 

 otherwise much as at the habitat just described (plate 9c). 



An additional mono-specific community observed was that of 

 Pholidia (formerly Eremophila) scoparia, which was not far from the 

 habitat last mentioned. It was different, however, in that the slope 

 has a southern aspect and is somewhat less steep. Probably the 

 water conditions are somewhat more favorable. Pholidia scoparia is 

 rather strict in habit, "broom-like," in fact, and has small leaves closely 

 appressed to the branches, as shown in plate 9c. The shrubs have a 

 canopy top and are 1.5 to 2 meters in height. Where they constitute 



