TOPOGRAPHICAL, ECOLOGICAL, AND TAXONOMIC NOTES. 339 



Eastern Mediterranean littoral, by spreading, weed-like, 

 over the sandhill. 



On the headland running south to Coogee Bay, the flat 

 rock benches, lightly covered with drift sand, support a 

 dwarfed herbage. Plantago coronopus L. spreads a rosette 

 of leaves to shade its shallow roots, retain moisture and 

 secure a foothold. It is a doubtful member of our indi- 

 genous flora, and was first recorded for New South Wales 

 from this locality by Mr. Fred, Turner. 1 Among the 

 Plantago, numerous varicolored patches of the diminutive 

 Polycarpon tetraphyllum Lcefl. are scattered, the associ- 

 ation of these two plants frequently occurring throughout 

 their world-wide distribution. 



Two csespitose herbs Cyperus tenellus L., and Juncus 

 bufonius L., each with an extra Australian range, form 

 isolated mats on the moist ledges. Though the latter (an 

 annual) is capable of adaptation to a varied habitat, in 

 respect of moisture and drainage, it is unable to maintain 

 its isolation when brought into competition with other 

 herbage in stations with superior drainage, its luxuriance 

 also diminishing with a reduced water supply. 



Two spiny fruited weeds were noted in the couch lawn 

 •on the dune at the northern end of Coogee Bay, Soliva 

 sessilis Ruiz and Pav., and Emex australis Steinh. The 

 former, a native of South America, was noted in the Proc. 

 Linn. Soc. N.S.W., xxiv, p. 646, by Messrs. Maiden and 

 Betche, as naturalised in Moore Park, from which it has 

 spread, chiefly in grassland, for a considerable distance 

 along the coast. In a footnote to Emex australis, Bentham, 

 ■(Fl. Austr. v, 263), says: — "A common maritime plant in 

 South Africa differing slightly from the Mediterranean 

 species (E. spinosa Oampd.) etc." Wright, in Polygonacae, 

 incorporated in the PL Oapensis, v, (1911) 481, also upholds 



1 Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, xxvi, p. 592. 



