26 
The Queensland Naturalist, 
May, 1932. 
plant and covers it with its tangled threads. Its effect 
is very noticeable, the number of individuals of the host 
being greatly reduced and the covering power of the sur- 
vivors considerably diminished. Ipomoea pes-caprae and 
Remirea maritima var. pedunculata usually form a fairly 
pure formation several yards in width. On the inner 
side they become mixed with such species as the Boerhaavia 
diffusa, Cenchrus echinatus (the burr grass), Sporobolus 
virginicus, Canavalia obtusifolia, Sal sola Kali, \ itex tri- 
folia, and the two succulent plants Euphorbia atoto and 
Sesuvium portulacastrum. Canavalia obtusifolia is very 
subject to the attacks of the parasitic Cassytha filiformis, 
which greatly handicaps it in its competition with its con- 
sociates. Tournefortia argeiitea, flowering while still a low 
shrub, is a pioneer tree, and behind the pes-caprae forma- 
tion the littoral forest makes its appearance. Here occur 
Casuarina equisetifolia, Pandanus pedunculatus, Myopo- 
rum acuminatum. Heritiera littoralis, Hibiscus tiliaceus. 
Thespesia populnea, Abutilon muticum, A. auritum, Cyno- 
metra ramiflora, Sophora tomentosa, Pleiogynium solandri, 
premna integrifolia, Erythrina sp., Calophyllum \ ino- 
phyllum, Morinda citrifolia, Guettardia speciosa, Barring- 
tonia speciosa, Capparis lucida, and Scaevola Koenigii, 
Melaleuca leucadendron occurs in more sheltered places. 
Clerodendron inerme, a scrambling shrub, is found sprawl- 
ing on the other plants, and Abrus precatorius, a climbing 
legume with red and black seeds, is common in places. 
Sareostemma australe, a leafless aselepiad, scrambles over 
rocks and may ascend twenty or thirty feet in the branches 
of adjacent trees. On the south shore behind a mangrave 
forest, there is found a strand forest which consists almost 
entirely of Calophyllum inophyllum. These trees are mag- 
nificent spreading specimens of about thirty-five feet in 
height with a short stout trunk of two to three feet. Six 
to fifteen thick branches spread more or less horizontally, 
giving a canopy of thirty to forty feet diameter. The 
ground is carpeted with fruits and seedlings of the same 
species, but round the margins the grass. Heteropogon 
contortus, Brassaia actinophylia (the umbrella tree), and 
Homalanthus populifolius, are to be found. r l he rather 
sheltered position is not one in which Heteropogon would 
be expected, as it is not tolerant of shade, but it is not 
thoroughly at home. Brassaia also is at a disadvantage in 
the canopy area, and is not frequent. Behind the ( alo- 
phyllum strip a rather peculiar formation extends across 
the sandy isthmus, which traverses the south-western cape. 
This is open forest, but not of the ordinary type such as is 
found on the hill-sides. It approximates floristically to the 
forest fringing the rocky shores. The dominant trees are 
