June, 1953 
THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST 
Sixty-seven 
Coonamore Daisy ( Erodiophyllnm 
Elderi) which was in full bloom. 
This plant would appear to have 
all the characteristics that are re- 
quired in a popular garden sub- 
ject as it has form, colour, per- 
fume, and is easy to raise from 
seed and keeps well in water. Mr. 
Gray was very enthusiastic about 
its possibilities and we had to 
promise to send him a good supply 
of seed later be lore we could get 
him back to the car. 
From here we returned to the 
Whyalla road and proceeded to a 
point which was reasonably close 
to the hills. The car was run off 
the road and we proceeded on 
foot. 
This part is typical Myall 
( Acacia Sowdeni) country and 
this tree was growing here at its 
best and was just beginning to 
flower. The Myall is not a tall 
tree, usually growing to about 20 
feet, but its dense, spreading 
branches often cover an area of 
more than 80 ft. diameter. It 
mostly attains a rather formal 
shape and has been given the com- 
mon name of “Umbrella Tree” 
which rather aptly describes it. It 
was noted that plants growing 
right underneath the Myalls were 
growing much more vigorously 
than those growing in the open. 
This seemed a contradiction as 
soil moisture is usually considered 
to be the limiting factor of plant 
growth in this region. Plants 
growing underneath densely 
loliaged trees would obviously re- 
ceive less rainfall than those grow- 
ing in the open, although the 
thick mulch of fallen leaves 
would tend to retain the moisture 
that did reach the ground. As 
there had been no shortage of soil j 
moisture in this area for some i 
months prior to our visit, it was 
considered that this was not the 
solution. Nitrogen enrichment was 
also considered but as this would 
be expected to be at a maximum 
in the area of the greatest root 
activity (which would occur out- 
side the ioliage area) this also was 
discounted. 1 his left only the pos- 
sibility of increased bacterial 
activity due to a higher humus 
content of the soil and as a solu- 
tion and we left it at that! 
Continuing our way we passed 
rather abruptly from the Myall 
into a Blackoak ( Casuarina lepi- 
dophloia) clump. A search was 
made for cones and it was some 
time before one was found. It was 
noted that the trees were produc- 
ing large numbers of root suckers 
and this fact together with the 
absence of fruiting cones and also 
that these trees are usually found 
in tight clumps led us to the be- 
lief that propagation is from these 
suckers rather than from seed. 
Passing out of the Blackoaks we 
entered onto the foothills of the 
range. This is open country where 
the dominant plants are Kochia 
species, K. sedifolia and K. pyra- 
midata being much in evidence. 
The breaks in the bluebush are 
clothed with Atriplex and Bassin 
species amongst which Atriplex 
vesicarium, A. stipnlatum, A. 
spongiosum , Bassia paradoxa and 
some clumps of spear grass— Stipa 
mtida — were noted. 
The Kochia-Atriplex plant asso- 
ciation continues to the foot of the 
hills where it gradually gives way 
to Triodia irritans and this plant 
continues without an appreciable 
break up to the top of the hills. 
The Gawler Range consists 
largely of shale and rather soft 
