Sept., 1924 
87 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
almost entirely xerophytic in character. For the most part 
the flora consistn of typical Australian types; only on the 
beach and in the fresh-water swamps is there found a 
lari^e proportion of species with a wide o-eog-raphicai 
distribution. 
For the puri)ose of convenience the various plants 
might be placed in the following live ecological groups — 
(1) Beach Hora. (2) brackish swamps, (3) fresh water 
('‘tea-tree’*) swam])s, (4) peat swamps or turf -moss 
formation. (5) open sandy forest land. 
(1) The Beach Vegetation. — The foreshores at the 
northern end of Moreton Tsland, owing to the open charac- 
ter of Moreton Bay, at this point pia'.sent practically all the 
features of an ocean beach. It is noteworthy- tliat the 
plants listed, witli a few exceptions, are species with a 
wide distribution over the troi)ica1 and sub-tropical ocean 
beaches of the Eastern Ilemipshere and some over the 
beaches of both the Old and the New World. 
The ])rincipal trees along the beach were -Tli})is(ms 
tiliacens (Oidtonwood), Oupania anacardioides, Casuar- 
ina eqiiisetifolia var. incana (Ooast Oak), and Pandanus 
peduncuiatus. iShrubs noticed were Vitex trifolia and 
Jasminum didymum. Trailing sand-binders were: — The 
universal l])omaea Pes-caprae (Goats Foot Convolvulus), 
so common along tropical benches as to have suggested 
the uame “Pes-caprae formation** for the vegetation of 
such almost all over the tropics; other idants with a wide 
distrihutiou over thi^ tropical foreshores of the \\'orld 
were: — Vigna lulmi with yellow, and Canavalia obtusi- 
folia witli large purplish pea flowers respectively; Acacia 
longifolia var. Sopborao, also common, is more typically 
Australian, its prostrate stems of 10-P2 feet trailiTig over 
the sand. Stephania hernandiaefolia was common jud 
behind the sand dunes, as was Hibbertia volubilis. These 
plants and some others in the Australian flora seem to be 
equally at home oji sandy beaches as in rich tropical 
and sub-tro])ical rain-forests, two habitats the absolute 
antithesis of one another as far as conditions for plant 
life are concerned. 
Sand-binding grasses were represented by: — ^Sjtinifex 
hirsutns, Zoysia pnngens (Coast Couch). Tschaemum tri- 
ticeum, Paspalum littorale (usually occurs in brackish 
swamps, but a clump was here seen growing under the 
shade of a Casuarina tree; and Lepturns repens. Succu- 
lent plants i)raetically always are a feature of beach 
floras, and on Moreton Island were represented by: — - 
