350 ox MxopOEr:^ plattcahpum, 



about mid way between tbe Laclilan and Darling E-ivers, and it 

 was from this locality that I obtained the gum or resin exhibited. 

 Small patches of this tree are to be met with about the " Pine 

 IRidge " on the " Old Man Plain " and also in the vicinity of 

 Hay on the Murrumbidgee Eiver. It nowhere attains a large 

 size, the largest that I have seen were between 30 and 40 feet 

 hiirh, with a diameter of trunk of about a foot or 15 inches, but 

 these dimensions are rare, the average height being about 20 feet. 

 "When young it is a handsome tree, the foliage being very dense, 

 and dark glossy green ; as the tree becomes old the foliage gets 

 spare, and it loses its handsome appearance. It flowers in 

 September and October, the blossoms are small, white and star- 

 shaped, growing in bunches of six or eight flowers along the thin 

 branchlets, which as a rule are pendulous. These blossoms, 

 evidently contain a large quantity of nectar, as during the flower- 

 ing period the trees are crowded by several species of honey- 

 eating birds, amongst which may be seen the — at other times 

 rare — JSLyzomela nicfva. The timber when dry is hard and some- 

 what brittle ; it has a fine grain, and when worked emits a 

 pleasant perfume ; it is also highly inflammable, a splinter of dry 

 wood burning with a clear steady light like a candle, emitting at 

 at the same time a strong but pleasant perfume. This inflam- 

 mability is caused no doubt from the large quantities of resinous 

 substance contained in the wood ; this resin or gum exudes from 

 the trunk and branches in a soft state, and in appearance exactly 

 resembling pitch, and in the form of nodules varying in size 

 from that of a filbert to that of a grain of large shot, which 

 harden by exposure to the air and drop off, the greater quantity 

 of these nodules being found on the ground beneath the trees. 

 This substance was in former times much used by the natives for 

 the same purposes as we use wax ; by melting it with fat they 

 produced an excellent wax-like substance, which they used on 

 the thread with which they bound their stone tomahawks to 

 the handles. It was used also in fastening on the heads of their 



