The South Australian Naturalist. 
95 
The land between the creeks is steep and is covered with 
natural scrub, it is bounded on three sides by these runnels, 
which are as a rule dry in summer. At the base of the hill 
near the Stirling creek E. obliqua has Exocarpus cupressiformis 
mixed with it and shrubs of Pultenaea daphnoides and Daviesia 
(orymbosa, about 6 feet in height are sparsely interspersed among 
the trees. Insufficient light prevents this lower stratum from 
growing densely and the plants are of spindly habit and sparsely 
leaved. Acrotriche fasciculijlora is found here as a tali shrub 
of 4 feet with tall bracken fern {Pteridium aquilinum). The 
native pine {Callitris cupressiformis) was represented here by a 
few small trees and a number of young plants, and one male 
tree of Casuarina stricta was growing in the lower part of the 
scrub. This is an unusual habitat as the sheoak is found as a 
rule on dry slopes at a lower altitude where the rainfall is much 
less. Some of the larger shrubs w^ere found from the lowest to 
the highest parts of the hill and were Pxdtenaea daphnoides , Davie- 
ha corymbosa, Actrotriche fasciculiflora, Leptosperma scoparium 
(this plant was more abundant in the wetter parts) and smaller 
shrubs of Eparis impressa and bracken fern, Pteridium aquilinum. 
The large rush Lepidosperma semiteres extended almost to the 
top of the hill where a smaller rush L. sp, took its 
place. Several other plants were found only on the higher ground 
and were small shrubs of Hibbertia sericea, Ilakea ulictna, Acacia 
myrtifolia. 
This piece of scrub, which has not been burnt for many years, 
is a good one for studying plant associations. It exhibits definite 
habitat preferences which are strikingly contrasted. The wetter 
ground has its special plants and the higher better drained soil 
has plants restricted to its situation. 
Reference to Fig. 2. will show two small creeks along which 
the candlebark grows. The sources of these creeks are fairly close 
together and are only separated by the saddle of the hill between. 
The candlebark is confined to the waterways except for several 
isolated specimens situated across the saddle of the hill. It is 
easy to suppose that the candlebark spread from the higher 
points of the hills down the creek, keeping to the wetter ground 
because of its inability to withstand dry conditions. Even in 
summer the gullies have a good supply of water, mostly below the 
the surface. The candlebark is thus seen to be a water-loving 
species which has an abundance of water available all round 
the year. 
