AN ECOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FLORA OF MOUNT WILSON. Part ii. The Eucalyptus Forests. By Arthur H. K. Petrie, Demonstrator in Botany in the University of Sydney. (Plates xx-xxii; and four Text-figures.) [Read 29th April, 1925.] Contents. 1. Introduction. 2. General Physiognomy of Eucalyptus Forest. 3. Classification of Communities. 4. The Associations. 5. The Eucalyptus-Doryphora Ecotone. 6. The Eucalyptus goniocalyx-E. Blaxlandi Association. 7. The Eucalyptus piperita-E. Tiaemastoma var. micrantha Association. 8. The Stratum-Societies of the Junction Flora. 9. Summary. Introduction. In tlie first of these Memoirs on the plant-covering of Mount "Wilson, a study was made of the vegetation of the basalt soil, which comprises the Malayan Rain-Forest and certain communities on the outskirts dominated by the endemic Eucalyptus. In this second Part it is proposed to give a brief account of some of the salient features of the Eucalyptus Forests, which constitute the vegetation of the sandstone plateau, supplementing also the previous observations on the Eucalyptus communities of the basalt. A third publication will deal with the plant communities of the valleys and their distribution, correlating them with those of the plateau. Eucalyptus Forest, the unique Endemic Flora of this Continent, is perhaps one of the most extensive plant formations in the world, and its ecology is prac-tically an unopened book: little more has, therefore, been attempted in the present paper than to outline the main communities in the small area under consideration; to record some observations on their distribution and inter-relationships; and to hint at a few of the many important problems connected with their adaptations, development, and such other features as are urgently awaiting intensive study. I have to record my indebtedness to Assistant-Professor McLuckie for his help in the field and advice in the preparation of the paper; to Professor Lawson for the interest he has always shown in the Mount Wilson work, and for suggestions on a number of occasions; to Mr. M. B. Welch, B.Sc, A.I.C., for kind permission to reproduce one of his photographs of Mount Wilson; and to Mr. O. D. Evans for his generous assistance in the identification of a number of the types referred to in this paper. L
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