s.A. x.vr., VOI-. XIV. 
May, 1933 . 
Tic Coastal Flora. 
109 
THE FLORA BETWEEN OUTER HARBOUR AND 
SELLICK’S BEACH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA 
(By J. B. Cleland.M.D.) 
PART HI- 
(4) The Reedbeds At Fulham 
7'hc Reedbeds were formed by ihe waters of the Torrens, 
obstructed by the coastal sandhills, spreading out laterally over 
alluvial flats and junctloning b}- more definite channels with the 
l^ort Rit'er on the north and the Patawalonga on the south. 
7'hirty or more t’cars ago they were what tlieir name implies, 
extensit’e swamps covered with water two to several feet deep, 
through which grew an abundance of the Common Reed {Phra'^- 
vihes commums) and of the Bulrush [Typha angustijoHa) . As 
a result ol the desti uctlon of the natural vegetation of our hills, 
the creeks llowing into the 7'orrens have been bringing down 
annually vast rjuantliies of soil in their flood waters. The loss 
■of co\'cr in the valleys and on the hillsides has made these water- 
courses tearing torrents after heavy rain, In contrast to the 
compararivch' gentle passage of the water in the years before 
the white man's interference when the fall from even heavy 
showers was partialh’ held up for a time amongst the spongy 
■\’egetation. 7 he finer particles of silt have been carried through 
Adelaide to be deposited over the swamps at the Reedbeds and 
the surface of these has been raised in consevjucnce till much of 
It is now five or six feet higher than a generation ago. hatch in- 
dividual flood may leave behind only a quarter to several inches 
of silt but in the course ol a few years this soon mounts to feet. 
1 his silting combined with drainage channels has reclaimed nearlv 
all the swamp and changed the whole face of the area. 7'hnugh 
the flats are still liable to be flofided at times by break-aways from 
the rnain channels, hardly any remnants of the original swamps 
remain and there seems to be no record of the primeval vege- 
tation. Some excavations on the late Air. Charles Wdfite's pro- 
perty made by the late Air, \\ illiam M lute a number of \ears 
j’-ist to the south of where the Henley Beach tram emerges 
on the seatvard side after crossing over the "swamps, ’ are now 
lilled^ with water and probably indicate what the Reedbeds -were 
like in the early days. Surrounding small areas of open water 
^'Part 1 appeared in \ ol. XIV., XT 1. XTvember 1932, pp. 45-48; 
and Part II in Xo. 2, PTbruary 1933, pp. 55 and 56. 
