314 FOllAGE-PLA^'TS TNDIGEXOrS IN XEW SOUTH WALES 



jP. spectahile Leptocliloa suhdigitcda, (Triu.) 



NeurachneMitcheUiana, (Nees.) Diplachne fusca, (Beauv.) 

 Andropogon sericens, (E. Br.) Glyceria Fordeana, (F.v.M.) 

 A. hombyeimcs, (E-. Br.) G. ramlgej'ci, (F.v.M.) 



A. refractus^ (E-. Br.) ^romus arena rius, (Labill.) 



In favourable seasons, tliese grasses spread over tlie vast plains 

 of the interior, and, although certain species of Stipa and Aristida 

 are sometimes injurious to sheep bj the pungency of their seeds, 

 yet no species of indigenous grass is known to possess any 

 deleterious properties. The uncertainty of the seasons, however, 

 in Xew South Wales, and the inequality of the rain-fall, render 

 it a matter of great importance to graziers to look beyond the 

 mere grasses for the depasturing of stock. The average rainfall, 

 therefore, and the average temperature also require duo consider- 

 ation in forming any comparison between the forage plants of 

 the coast districts and those of the interior. It appears that, 

 whilst the average annual rain-fall in Sydney may be estimated 

 at 51 '521 inches, that of Bourke, on the Darling may be placed 

 13 '653 inches. In the matter of temperature, likewise, the 

 maximum and minimum in Sydney are reckoned at 107'9 and 36'S 

 Fahr. respectively, whilst at Bourke they are 121"5 and 29'9. 

 Fahr. Owing then to the extreme dryness of the seasons, the 

 great heat of the summer months, or the prevalence of bush-fires, 

 the grasses may fail ; and hence, had not nature supplied herbage 

 of other kinds, large tracts of land would be useless as sheep or 

 cattle runs, excepting when tlie rain-fall is abundant. ' In most 

 countries, plants of the Salsolaceous kind occur most frequently 

 in salt-marshes or near the sea-coast, but in New South "Wales, 

 in addition to species common to such localities, many of the 

 Salt-bush kind arc found in the arid interior, and such plants, in 

 conjunction with the hardier grasses afford a plentiful supply of 

 nutriment in all seasons. 



The Salsolacea) of the colony comprise 13 genera and 60 species 

 and of these, Rhagodia Jiastata, (It. Br.), H. pamhoUca, (H. Br.) 



