Notes on the Flora around Adelaide. 
111 
composing their summits descend in a series of steps to about 
2,000 feet below sea level at the coast. The plains on which the 
city stands begin at the base of low foothills eight miles south of the 
city and run north for over 100 miles. In origin they are part 
coastal and part flood. At Adelaide they are crossed by the river 
Torrens, which rises some 30 miles east and cuts through the ranges 
Text-Fig. 1. Sketch map of the Adelaide district. The hills are very 
roughly indicated, no contoured map being published. Main railways only 
shown. The suburbs are not indicated. 
in a gorge. In addition there are many “creeks” that rise in the 
hills which cut deep valleys for themselves before they cross the 
plain to join the Torrens. For the greater part of the year, though, 
they are absolutely dry. The Torrens is blocked from the sea by a 
coast range of sandhills and loses itself in a swampy area, the 
“ Reedbeds,” the overflow from which drains into the Port Adelaide 
