2 68 



THE TROPICAL AGPTCULTtmiST. 



[October i, 1884. 



flowers, so that upon the whole this is not only one 

 of the most interesting but one of the prettiest bits 

 of the lixhibision. 



From the opposite end of the world, the California 

 Red Wood Compoiy makes itself seen, offering the 

 g'gantic sla'is of the sequoia, which seems so to de- 

 light ca punters by their freedom from knots. It is 



purely soft wood, and not calculated for flooring I 

 .should say. I'.ut for panelling it is admirable, rich and 

 warm in colour and easy to work, and one "f the 

 chief r oms in the new Conservative i rub here has 

 been done with it There is a very chaste chimney 

 piece of thi wood shown, in which it is seen how the 

 closer grained parts can be turned and carved as 

 pillars while the opener parts suit for fiat treatmen. 

 This exhibit is left aim >st in its natural stat'. being 

 slightly waxed, and lodes as strong as oak, while it 

 is equally effective Choice 'burs" of the wood are 

 shewn in panels, and in various ways the merits of 

 this receir impo tation are displayed. From South 

 America, British Guiana make-- an extensive exhibit, 

 and here, loo. the practical man se s openings which 

 doub less will modify our ideas of furniture someday. 

 The conservative spirit of the British workman— not 

 polit cally, but in his trade — must give way to the 

 lessons of such a collection as is here, and instead 

 of a mere choice of ash or beech in light woods, and 

 mahogany or walnut in dark, we shall have examples 

 of furuitur. in many tones and combinati ns of colours. 

 In fact I have stated the idea of getting a harlequin 

 set of chairs just as we used t i see sets of t a cups 

 where each was different in colour We might see 

 a red-wood chair from California, a white " thingan" 

 chair from Andaman, a British oak. a Scottish pine 

 (the Queen shows some excellent white pine furnit- 

 ure) and other woods drawn from every country 

 tiom China to Pern. I shoe Sidney Smith's idea as 

 to his breakfast plates : he always bought odl ones, 

 and would s iy "it was quite a treat to eat oil the 

 pate 1 ha 1 this morning." And so I should like, as 

 the result of this exhibition to get a set of chair , 

 and to sit on one today and another tomorrow. — 

 Madras Mail. 



AUSTRALIAN BOTANY, 



SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOli THE USE OF SCHOOLS ; BY 



W. K. (5UILFOYLE, F.L.S., CM., ROYAL BOTANICAL SOCIETY, 



LONDOK, DIRECTOR OK TUB MELBOURNE BOTANIC GARDENS, 



AUTHOR OF THE "A. B. C. OF BOTANY', " ETC., ETC. 



Mr. Guilfoyle has sent us a copy of the second' 

 edition of his useful and well-got up little work The 

 frontispiece is an engraving from a sk-tch of Australian 

 vegetation by the autnor, a noble Moreton Bjy Fig 

 [Finix inarrophi/1'a) occupying the foreground, with 

 eucalyptus, p dins, tfcc, as accessories The table of 

 c ujteuts »ill give some idea of ihe scope of the 

 work : — 



Contents. — Lesson. — I. — Seeds, II. — Structure of Plants. 

 III.— Roots, IV.— Stems, V.— Leaves. VI.— Flowers. VII.— 

 Fruits. VIII. — Acotyledous. IX. — Systematic Botany. Simple 

 Directions for the Collection and Preservation of Specimen 

 Plants, hixamination or Dissection of Flowers and Fruits. 

 Australian Vegetation. Glossary. Principal Plants of Ec- 

 onomic Value. — No. 1. Plants used as Food, yielding Esculent 

 Roots, Leaves, etc. No. 2. Plants yielding Edible Fruits, 

 Nuts, etc. No. 3. Spice aud Coudimeut Plants. No. 4. Med- 

 icinal Plants. No. 5. Plants yielding Gums, Resins, aud 

 Balsams. No. 6. Fibre Plants used in the Manufacture of 

 Clothing, Cordage, and Paper. No. 7. Plants used for 

 Dyeing. No. 8. Principal Timber Trees of Commerce. Wild 

 Plants found around Melbourne, and common in New South 

 Wales, Queensland, .South Australia, and Tasmania. Nat- 

 ural orders of Plants represented in Australia. Botanical 

 Index. 



The preliminary and general matti r has the merit of 

 great simplicity and clearness, but, in selecting extracts, 

 we are, of course, attracted to the portion of the 

 book which deah with Australian vegetation : — 



Foremost in point of beauty for floral effect is the 

 Eucalyptus ficifolia which bears large bunches of bright 

 scarlet flowers. It is a native of Brokes Inlet, Western 

 Australia. This magnificent plant, when in full bloom, is 

 one of the most gorgeous objects possible to conceive. 

 Seen in the distance, it appears like masses of fire. A 

 red flowering variety of E. calophylla, red gum of Port 

 Gregory, is also very beautiful. The same might be said 

 however of the 'flame tree' {Sterculin acerifolia) of Queens- 

 land and New South Wales, which, in many parts of those 

 colonies, but especially of the latter, the lllawarra dis- 

 trict, for instance, is very plentiful. When met with in 

 the brush-lands, a single specimen presents an almost dazzl- 

 iug Jeffect ; but when seen 'e/i wmsse' at a distance, from the 

 mountain slopes, it is indeed a glorious sight. Its splendid 

 display of colour is often enahanced by the refreshing 

 green of the foliage of other trees, and perhaps by a back- 

 ground of far distant mountains suffused with that bluish 

 vapour which renders the scenery peculiary charming. 



Acacia.— Pp. 20, 54, 190. See also Wattle, Black Wattle, 

 Golden Wattle, Silver Wattle, aud Blackwood of Light- 

 wood [Acacia melanoxylon). The genus Acacia comprises 

 some 300 species. The flowers appear in dense, mostly 

 yellow, clusters or racemes, loading the air with a most 

 delicious perfume. The seeds of most of the Acacias re- 

 quire soaking in hot water for some time before sowing, 

 to assist early germinatiou. The tallest growing Austral- 

 ian Acacia is the 'Blackwood' or 'Lightwood,' which often 

 attains a height of sixty or seventy feet. Besides being a 

 highly ornamental tree, the timber is useful for furniture 

 aud implements requiring toughness. Many of our Austr- 

 alian species yield a valuable gum almost equal to Gum 

 Arabic. 



Australian Bottle-tree. — Sterculia (Bracliychiton). (Nat- 

 ural Order, Sterculiace.-e.) Pp. 53, 1 93. — The generic name 

 of this tree is less known than its common name of 

 Bottle-tree, given to Sterculia diversifolia and Sterculia 

 rupestris on account of the peculiar shape of their swollen 

 trunks. The bark, when macerated in water, produces a 

 lace-like bast, which has been converted into ropes, cord- 

 age, aud coarse paper. The Victorian Bottle-tree (Sterc- 

 nl in diversifolia) is well known by the aboriginal name of 

 " Kurrajong" in East Gippsland. The natives manufacture 

 fishing lines and nets from the bark. A sweet, gummy, 

 edible substance exists between the inner bark and the 

 wood. In New South Wales it is generally known as the 

 " Kurrajong tree," where it is often felled for stock when 

 pastures fail, aud is therefore valuable as a fodder plant. 

 At the Kurrajong Mountains in New South Wales it is 

 called the "Rattle-trap tree," on account of the loud rattl- 

 ing noise made by the long racemes of bard woody seeds, 

 capsules, or pods being brought into contact when shaken 

 by the winds. The roots, bark, young shoots, and foliage 

 are readily eaten by the stock of all kinds, and their mucil- 

 aginous contents are no doubt nutritious. The blacks 

 also make use of the pith and roots of this treeasfaod. 



Bangalo Palm. — Seaforthia. (Natural Order, Palma?.) 

 Pp. 24, 92. — The generic name now most in use is Pty- 

 chosperma. This noble plant is unquestionably one of the 

 grandest and most graceful of the Palm tribe. In tropical 

 Australia the indigenous species may be found towering to 

 a height of 100 feet. Their feathered fronds, waving in 

 the breeze, have a magnificent appearance. Seaforthia elegans 

 is perhaps the most beautiful of all. Seaforthia robusta 

 is found at lllawarra. New South Wales, where it grows 

 to a height of 150 feet. These tall Palms are of great value 

 iu landscape gardening where the climate admits of their 

 growth, as by judicious grouping they impart a charming 

 effect to the scenery. 



Cabbage Palm.— Livistona (Corypha) Australia. (Nat- 

 ural Order, Palune ) Pp. 24, 90. — This magnificent Palm 

 has been found on the borders of the Gippsland, and is 

 therefore the only Victorian representative of its tribe. 

 It is principally met with in the valleys and deep ravim-s 

 of tropical Australia, where it occasionally attains a height 

 of 120 feet. Iu lllawarra, also at the Beilenger, Clarence, 

 Richmond, Burnswick, and Tweed Rivers, New South 



