^j^P'"'] KKBL.K, Aboriginal Plant Names. 71 



(dal ]up), Sow Thistle, Sonchus oleraceus, Linne, come from 

 tal and lup, and may be rendered " hardy water plants." The 

 stems and roots of the da Im'p were eaten (Hooker), and made 

 an excellent vegetable (Leichhardt) ; it was the thai lak of 

 the East Gippsland tribes. Dual, Musk Aster, Olearia argo- 

 phylla, F. von M., signifies the Musk Aster's preference for damp 

 localities. Tre tal, Golden Goodia, Goodia lotifolia, Salisbury, 

 is a difficult word, tre being unusual. Tal seemingly has its 

 general significance, yet it cannot be said that the Golden 

 Goodia is restricted to damp localities, although perhaps at 

 its best there. Tool im. Pale Rush, J uncus pallidus, R. Brown, 

 typically represents the general meaning of tal, this rush being 

 restricted to damp localities. It was used for basket making. 

 Tool i merin comes from tal, " rush-like " — the Small Grass-tree, 

 Xanthorrhosa minor, R. Brown. The grass -tree was one of 

 the most useful native plants. They obtained honey from 

 its flowers (Taplin), ate its young shoots, bases of its leaves, 

 young flower stalk, and spike. A part cut out of the stem 

 at the base of the leaves made a refreshing food (Brough 

 Smyth). The gum was largely used as a resin, and the 

 peduncle, if long, as a shaft for the tir rer, or eel spear. 



Tahun, another word for damp, occurs twice — namely, in 

 tabtin gin, an unnamed root eaten by the natives, and tab e rup 

 (tab rup), Yellow Marsh Flower, Villarsia reniformis, R. Brown. 

 Rup means thread, as in pee I'eep, thread ; bee rip, tendon. 

 Possum rugs were sewn together with the tendons of animals 

 and a thread made from the bark of fibrous plants. 



Wa, water, occurs in several listed plant names. The Waar 

 or wa may have been derived from either waar, a thorn, or 

 wa, water, as the leaf sent was indeterminate. War ra wor up 

 (wa worap). Late Black Wattle, Acacia mollissima, WiUd. — 

 the war our e rup of Thomas — is derived from wa, water, and 

 woorap, red ochre. The association is singular, and refers to 

 a native remedy for a certain skin disorder called bub bu rum. 

 The treatment consisted in applying red ochre saturated with 

 a decoction of wattle bark soaked in water {cf. wer re rup, 

 doctor). Woor un. Mountain Ash Gum, Euoalyptus regnans, 

 F. von M., Narrow-leaved Peppermint, E. amygdalina, 

 Labill., comes from woor or wa, water, and un, adjectival 

 ending. When Baron von Mueller referred woor un to E. 

 amygdalina, E. regnans had not been separated as a species 

 from it. These trees afforded, I am inclined to think, the 

 elbows and gnarls from which the blacks made their tarnuks 

 or water vessels ; hence the native name. For other uses of 

 the wood see under tir ba twe bin. 



Yang, meaning the flight of a spear or boomerang, and 



