Useful Australian Plants. BY J. H. MAIDEN, Government Botanist and Director of the Botanic Gardens, Sydney. No. 30. AN OAT GRASS (Anisopogon avenaceus, R. Br.) Vernacular name.-Sometimes called oat-grass, from the general resemblance of its inflorescence to that of oats. Botanical name.-Anisopogon, Greek anisos unequal, pogon a beard, in allusion, I believe, to the unequal size of the awns of this grass; avenaceus, Latin adjective, signifying oat-like. Botanical description (Flora Australiensis, vii, 590).—An erect glabrous grass of 2 or 3 feet, branching at the base only. Leaves convolute, terminating in subulate points. Ligula very short, truncate, often ciliate. Panicle long, the large spikelets hanging from slender pedicels. Outer glumes narrow, about 9-nerved, 1 to 2 inches long. Flowering glume about 4-inch long, the central awn 2 to 3 inches long, the lateral ones finer and not half so long. Palea longer than the entire part of the glume. Lodicules long and lanceolate. Terminal barren spikelet, when present, small and silky-villous. It is an ornamental oat-like grass, its persistent, pale-coloured, very long outer glumes making the plant very conspicuous. Value as a fodder.-Very few observations have been made on this point, so that there is some uncertainty in regard to it. I fancy it is not generally known, perhaps being confused with other grasses. I have been in places where cattle appeared scarcely to touch it, but it must be borne in mind that it is chiefly found in poor sandstone country, and that it is sparsely tussocky, so that stock could only feed it down with difficulty. Against this I have the statement of a correspondent from Cape Hawke that it is a palatable and fattening grass for cows. Habitat and Range.-Principally a New South Wales species, though it extends to Queensland on the north, and Victoria on the south. It is confined to the coast districts and coast mountain ranges, preferring, as far as I have noticed, sterile, rocky country. Reference to plate.-1. Spikelet opened out; 2. Flowering glume showing large central awn and fine lateral awns. A No. 31. Box, OR GREY BOX (Eucalyptus hemiphloia, F.v.M.) Vernacular Names.-It was called box, because of its tough inlocked character, which reminded the early settlers of Turkey box. Here, however the resemblance ceases, as our box is a coarser-grained, duller-looking timber. Though in the Colonies it often goes by the name of "box," the adjective grey is used to distinguish it from red box, brush box, &c. In the inner north coast districts it is sometimes called forest box, to distinguish it from the brush or coast box (Tristania conferta), which flourishes nearer the coast. It is sometimes called gum-topped box, because of its smooth branches, not a very good name, as the branches of all boxes are smooth, so far as I know. In the report of the Victorian Carriage Board (1884), it is called canary wood. This is not a very appropriate name, although the timber is sometimes yellowish when freshly cut. It has also been called yellow box, but the name is so much more suitable when applied to E. melliodora that it only causes confusion to apply it to E. hemiphloia. I have received this timber under the name of "bastard box" from Bathurst and Casino. It has also been called "black box" in contradistinction to "white box”—a term more usually applied to the variety albens. There are two marked varieties of this species, and so well marked are they that it is difficult to believe, at first sight, that they are not distinct species. Ordinary "box" or grey box" has green leaves and green fruits. The variety albens has much larger fruits, as a rule, and the fruits, leaves, &c., are intensely glaucous, giving the trees the appearance of having been dusted over with flour. In fact this variety forms a really handsome tree, while its whitish appearance causes it to be very conspicuous. Aboriginal name.-"Narulgun" used to be employed by north coast blacks, and "Gnooroo-warra was, on the authority of the late Sir William Macarthur, the name used by the Illawarra aborigines. I believe it to have been the "Barroul-Gourrah" of the aborigines of Cumberland and Camden. Botanical name.-Eucalyptus, already explained; hemiphloia, from two Greek words, signifying "half-bark." (See Bark.) Leaves. I only know the result of one examination of eucalyptus oil from this species, viz., that of Schimmel & Co., of Leipzig, in Germany, who, in 1893, reported on a Queensland sample as follows:-"A reddish-brown oil, containing large quantities of cymin-aldehyde, also much cineol." It is hence an interesting oil, and is worthy of further investigation, but, judging from the crushing of the leaves in the hand, the percentage of oil they yield is not high. Exudation. The grey-box exudes a reddish-brown, friable kino, which belongs to my "turbid group" of these substances. It contains two recently discovered and highly interesting bodies, viz., Eudesmin and Aromadendrin. (See a paper by H. G. Smith and the writer, Proc. Roy. Soc., N.S.W., 1895, p. 30.) Bark.-The tree belongs to the Hemiphloic or "half-barked" trees. The greater portion of the trunk is covered with a matted, sub-fibrous bark, whitish or dirty grey externally. The upper portion of the trunk and the branches are smooth. The fibrous bark is not easy to describe so as to be clear to a stranger, but the bark of a box is well known to every country resident, is quite characteristic, and should be made familiar to everyone. |