October, 1929 
The Queensland Naturalist 
55 
4. Swamps — 
(a) freshwater; 
(b) brackish. 
5. Strand vegetation. 
6. Mangrove forests. 
Eucalyptus Forest. 
The eucalyptus forest on Palm Island is characteristic 
cf the ridges and drier parts of the island, such as sandy 
flats. The dominant species of this formation are four 
species of Eucalyptus — E. terminaiis (Bloodwood) ; E. 
alba (Cabbage Gum) ; E. tessellaris (Moreton Bay Ash) ; 
.and E. tereticornis (Blue Gum) ; and one Albizzia, A. 
procera. A number of other trees are also met with but 
are never dominant. These are — Coclilospermum Gilii- 
vraei (a Kapok tree) ; Acacia flavescens; Acacia lioloseri- 
eea; A. polystachaga ; Homalanthus populif olius ; Macar- 
anga tanarius ; Pleiogynium solandri ; Brassaia actino- 
phylla; and, more rarely, Randia Fitzalani. Between the 
trees are small shrubs and herbs, but where fires have 
swept the hills these give way to tall grasses. The shrubs 
and small trees include Myoporum acuminatum; Tephrosia 
astragaloides; Melastoma malabathricum ; Indigofera 
pratensis; Crotalaria linif olia ; Crotalaria calycina; Crota- 
laria Mitchellii; Desmodium biarticulatum ; Abroma fast- 
uosa ; Abutilon muticum ; A. auritum ; Hibiscus radiatus ; 
Ii. manihot ; II. normani ; and H. tiliaceus. The herbaceous 
covering is varied — Anthistiria imberbis (Kangaroo 
Grass) ; Ileteropogon contortus; Panicum trachyrachis 
(coolibar grass) ; and Stipa semibarbata (an awn grass) — 
are the dominant Gramineae, and after bush fires when 
the canopy has been removed, the ombrophobous Hetero- 
pogon grows breast high and so thick as to make walking 
through it extremely difficult. Here and there in this 
grass thicket Panicum trachyrachis may be distinguished 
by its loose graceful panicles, and Stipa semibarbata fre- 
quently is dominant, or the only species over considerable 
areas. Before burning over, however, these grasses are 
not dominant in the herbaceous covering, though they 
form an important part of the general picture. With 
them are associated Cheilanthes tenuifolia (rock fern)'; 
Polypodium phymatodes; Halorrhagis acanthocarpa ; 
Pterocaulon glandulosum; Sphaeranthus mircocephalus ; 
Dianella laevis; Helichrysum elatum; H. bractaetum; H 
elatum; and Geodorum pictum. 
Climbers are represented by Lygodium scandens ; 
L. reticulatum; L. japonicum; Passifora foetida; and 
