TOPOGRAPHICAL, ECOLOGICAL, AND TAXONOMIC NOTES. 666 



Epacris crassifolia R. Br., a robust form mentioned by 

 Bentham, PI. Austr. iv, 237, which extends northwards as 

 far as Cowan Bay, shares the lower rock crevices with 

 Gleichenia circinata. Wedelia biflora here presents its 

 characteristic scrambling habit, forming mats on the. hori- 

 zontal surface of the boulders or overhanging their per^ 

 pendicular walls. RhagodiaBillardieri has on this exposed 

 front developed a rock-clinging habit, and its leaves have 

 lost much of the polished surface of its confreres on the 

 dune, a scaly incrustation, not unusual in the family, 

 replacing the coating of varnish. 



On the southern side of Port Jackson the rocky headland 

 extends along the ocean front to Bondi. Melaleuca annu- 

 laris Sm., here first noted, maintains in some measure its 

 erect habit, and in the region of greatest exposure, on the 

 verge of the escarpment, is less dwarfed and prostrate 

 than its rigidly framed congener M. nodosa, its elastic stems 

 bending to the storm-blast, and quickly recovering their 

 upright position when the pressure is removed. Both 

 species range from Queensland southwards, M. nodosa 

 ending its southern traverse in the Port Jackson district, 

 and its ally proceeding into Victoria. M. armillaris is 

 edaphically restricted to the sandstone, and is unable to 

 accompany M, nodosa into the Wianamatta Shale belt. The 

 latter is limited as to elevation, and cannot ascend the 

 southern highlands, where M. armillaris is established at 

 Bowral, extending also to the Jenolan Oaves. 



Another member of the genus, M. hypericifolia Sm., 

 which was not seen in the area described, though it has 

 been collected on the northern boundary at Newport, and 

 extends south into Victoria, was considered as essentially a 

 sea coast habitue until discovered in the Valley of the 

 Waters at Wentworth Falls in 1906. 1 It has also reached 



1 Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, xxxin, p. 312. 



