Useful Australian Plants. By J. H. MAIDEN, Government Botanist and Director of Botanic Gardens, Sydney. No. 34.-A DWARF SALT-BUSH (Atriplex halimoides, Lindl.), "BRAK." Vernacular Name.-I know of none, except the general one it shares with others of "Dwarf Salt-bush.' Botanical Name.—Atriplex (already explained); halimoides, because of its resemblance to A. halimus (Greek, oidos, like), a well-known Cape salt-bush, locally known as Brak 66 or Vaalbosch." 66 Botanical Description (Flora Australiensis, vol. v, 178).-A procumbent or diffuse perennial or undershrub, with the habit or inflorescence of A. holocarpa, but usually not so white, and the Leaves narrower, mostly lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate and acute, but sometimes as tomentose, and passing into the small rhomboidal form of that species. Fruiting perianth enlarged to 4 to 6 lines diameter, loosely fibrous and spongy, with an inner and outer membrane, as in A. holocarpa, but broadly turbinate or almost hemispherical, with a much-depressed or flattened summit, bordered by an annular horizontal wing, or acute angle, the very small central orifice closed by small entire or three-toothed erect valves, as in the allied species. Fruit the same, except that the radicle appears to be always inferior, not superior. Value as a Fodder.-It is always well spoken of by pastoralists and others. It has not the bulk of the "Old Man Salt-bush," but Mr. G. Valder, who has A. halimoides (amongst other species) under cultivation at the Wagga Wagga experimental farm, will report upon its bulk as a crop in due course. Mr. E. G. Alston, who had this species under cultivation at the Cape, says, "More saline, and thus less agreeable to sheep, and less copiously seeding, than A. nummularium (“ Old Man Salt-bush"). Habitat and Range.-Very widely distributed throughout the interior portions of all the continental colonies, but approaching the sea-coast in South Australia, Western Australia, and the Gulf of Carpentaria. In our own Colony, on the Bogan, Namoi, Lachlan, Darling, &c. Reference to Plte.-A, Leaves, natural size; B, Fruiting perianth, twice natural size; c, Seed, magnified. A THE BURR MEDICK OR CLOVER (Medicago denticulata, Willd.) [See an illustrated article on M. scutellata and M. orbicularis in the Gazette for January 1894.] Botanical Name.-Medicago, from a Greek word, Medike, given by Dios. corides to a kind of grass; denticulata, Latin adjective, signifying having small teeth, in allusion to the margins of the leaves. Vernacular Names.-" Burr Clover," "Creeping Burr," "Medick Clover," "Medick Burr," "Toothed Medick." Botanical Description.-A nearly glabrous plant, with small yellow flowers; has laciniate stipules, and with a flat pod, deeply reticulate with two or three folds and a double row of spines. It is usually an annual, but in many sheltered places in the coast districts I believe it may be perennial. The Burr Medick considered as a Weed.-The complaints against this plant are chiefly by the pastoralists, for the burrs become entangled in the fleeces of their sheep, to the great detriment of the wool. I have seen fleeces so covered with these burrs that I believe it would be no exaggeration to say that the greater part consisted more of vegetable matter than of wool. Ordinary mechanical processes are useless for cleansing wool in such a condition, and the losses which wool-growers have to submit to are sometimes very great. Another objection urged against the Burr Clover is because of its rapid, dense growth, causing it to smother out nutritious, but less robust, pasture. Finally, it dies down in early summer in our hottest districts, leaving next to nothing for the stock, at a period when food is most wanted. The Burr Medick considered as a Forage-plant.—I do not call to mind a series of comparative experiments (chemical and physiological), which would give us specific data as to the value of this plant for forage purposes, but the general opinion is that, while nutritious, it is of second-class value. We must suspend our judgment in this respect, but we are certain that in many parts of the Colony it produces an exuberant growth of bright green fodder which stock eat readily enough, and on which they appear to thrive. It is only beyond the Dividing Range that it becomes a real nuisance, for in the coast and coast-mountain districts comparatively few sheep are kept, and the burrs are neither as abundant nor as rigid as those from plants on the western plains. Habitat and Range.-Mediterranean region, but now naturalised in most temperate and warm countries. Reference to Plate.-A, Stipules; B, Hooked fruits; c, Smooth seeds. |