348 A. A. HAMILTON. 



poor sandy soil, and starving out its less perfectly equipped 

 competitors, or smothering them with its spreading fronds. 

 The latter is of a tough consistence and requires little 

 moisture, the succulent rhizomes storing and regulating 

 the water supply. 



The Blady-grass, Imperata arundinacea Oyr., is one of 

 the few plants associated with the Bracken, which the 

 latter is unable to suppress. Its rhizomatic system is but 

 little inferior to that of its larger confrere, and its flag, 

 though broad and flat, has a membraneous drought resistant 

 tissue, the elongated culms with the blade held vertically, 

 running up to the light through the interstices of the fern 

 fronds. Dianella revoluta is also capable of establishing 

 its colony within the confines of the Fernery, but does not 

 consort with the Bracken as freely as does the Blady-grass. 



At the southern end of the beach a small colony of Thatch- 

 reed, Phragmites communis Trin., has obtained a precarious 

 footing in a drainage channel on the rock shelves at the 

 base of the escarpment, which stretches, in comparative 

 shelter for a considerable distance to the ocean headland. 

 In some of the reaches of Cook's River, this reed lines the 

 banks with an exclusive formation, descending into the 

 stream shallows to a depth of a few feet, its stout, closely 

 interlocked rhizomes securing a foothold for the community 

 and incidentally protecting the muddy river bank from 

 tidal erosion. Its climatic adaptability and vigorous growth, 

 are attested by a cosmopolitan distribution, and an excep- 

 tional capacity for excluding competitors. 



The heath-like Micromyrtus microphylla Benth., covers 

 small patches of shallow, moist soil on the rocky hillside, 

 its close formation admitting only mossy growths, or other 

 diminutive shade loving plants. The Hop-bush, Dodoncea 

 triquetra, has, on the headland, quickly responded to 

 exposure by reducing the size of its leaves, those on plants 



