300 A. A. HAMILTON. 



specially favoured. Breynia oblong if olia has no prefer- 

 ential associates, but is content to mingle with any vege- 

 tation which provides a modicum of shade and shelter. 

 Both species frequent the rocky hillsides on the ocean front, 

 maintaining a respectful distance from the verge of the 

 escarpment. 



Further south the valley shallows, and Wikstrcemia 

 indica 0. A. Mey., a soft-wooded halophytic shrub, consti- 

 tutes a considerable proportion of the vegetation. In this 

 station the Wikstrcemia attains its greatest profusion, 

 extending inland for some distance on the dune flat. 

 Occasional clumps were met on all the beaches south to 

 Manly, but it was not noted south of Port Jackson. 



Towards the southern end of the beach the shelter 

 afforded by the Long Reef promontory becomes effective, 

 the lowering of the dune embankment, and the merging of 

 the valley into the plateau, demonstrating its influence in 

 moulding the contour of the beach. On the plateau in close 

 proximity to the strand, the introduced "Cat's- ear, " Hypo- 

 cheer us radicata L., has established a colony, the large, 

 closely appressed, basal rosettes of the plants, enabling 

 them to support the elongated branching stems in an upright 

 position. Into this association several plants of the weedy 

 crucifer, Lepidium hyssopi folium Desv. (one of a number 

 of species included by Bentham, PI. Aust., i, 86, under L. 

 rudercde L.) have intruded. In their immediate neighbour- 

 hood several bushes were noted of the spiny "Wild Tomato," 

 or "Apple of Sodom," Solarium sodomceum L., from the 

 Mediterranean littoral, one of the hardiest members of the 

 dune flora. 



In this comparatively sheltered situation its behaviour is 

 normal, but when growing in a position, frequently chosen 

 on the windswept crown of a hillock, or the verge of the 

 -exposed frontal embankment, where its upright growth is 



