TOPOGRAPHICAL, ECOLOGICAL, AND TAXONOMIC NOTES. 303 



regulating the dimensions of its leaves and carpet, to meet 

 the varying conditions obtaining in its ubiquitous habitat. 

 On the dune it reaches the frontal slopes, displaying a pre- 

 ference, here as elsewhere, for association with a "Couch" 

 lawn, but is capable of maintaining its individuality on the 

 bare sandy plateau. 



In a frontal position on the dune flat, the "Salt- wort," 

 Salsola kali L., — found on the shores of most temperate 

 countries — was represented (November) by numerous groups 

 of seedlings, springing up among the rapidly withering 

 stems of the parent plants. The adolescent plants are 

 leafy, but can only maintain the foliar character for a brief 

 period, reducing it when they reach the adult stage to a 

 mere wing-like, spine tipped, outgrowth (cladodium) on the 

 succulent stem and branches. The latter are interwoven 

 into a divaricate framework, stayed and supported to pre- 

 vent dislocation and consequent fracture, of the heavy 

 brittle limbs. The interior form of this species, the "Roly 

 Poly" of the Western Plains, is less succulent and more 

 spiny, and retains its foliage to a much later stage. On 

 the exposed ocean beaches the "Salt- wort" is not as 

 plentiful as on the sheltered harbour beaches, e.g., the 

 eastern shore of Botany Bay, where it was collected by 

 Banks and Solander in 1770. The fact of its presence pre- 

 vious to the advent of these eminent botanists, is a measure 

 of evidence that it is not an alien in Australia. 



The 'Travellers' Joy,' Clematis glycinoides DO. occasion- 

 ally crosses the dune flat to the frontal embankment, where 

 in the absence of supporting shrubby growths, it forms a 

 tangled thicket. It is a typical example of the petiolar 

 group of climbers, and when growing in its customary 

 station in the scrub, its running stem ascends the trunk of 

 an arboreal neighbour, and throws a leaf over a convenient 

 branch. The tendril-like leafstalk coils itself with one or 



