576 BOTANICAL NOTES OX QUEENSLAND, 



AtaJaya liemiglauca, a member of the Sapindacece is aiiotlier 

 widely spread inhabitant of the desert regions and a constant 

 accompaniment of the Brigalow scrubs. I believe it was found 

 abundantly in Central Australia and is included in Baron von 

 Mueller's list of the plants brought by Forrest from North- 

 western Australia. It is an abnormal member of the Sapindaceous 

 tribe, with emaciated looking pinnate leaves, but the pinn?e are 

 long and so far apart as scarcely to be recognised as such. I 

 have already remarked in a former part of these papers how 

 beautifully fragrant are the graceful clusters of its small white 

 flowers, and how in the desert it is a tree which may be easily 

 known by the multitude of insects it attracts in flowering time. 

 Afterwards it is equally conspicuous from the abundance of 

 small yellow, winged seeds. These are like the sycamore except 

 that they are not in pairs. The wood is very hard but the trees 

 are always too small to be of much use. With it, scattered here 

 and there in the more open plains is another abnormal member 

 of an order which cannot count Australia for its stronghold. 

 This is Heterodendron olecefolium which belongs to the BoraginecB. 

 It is a good deal like Atala>^a at a distance, but a nearer inspection 

 of course shews a vast difference in the foliasje &c. It is not at 

 all rough in the leaf. Ehretla saligna, H, Br., is another member 

 of the same family found in the Brigalow. It is essentially a 

 small desert tree. Mr. Alexander Forrest found it on Sturt's 

 Creek on the edge of the Central Desert and I have little doubt 

 that it extends through the whole interior. This is also true of 

 a pretty little blue flower of the same order, which is found on 

 all the more open Brigalow downs. This is Trichodesma zeilanicum 

 E/. Br., easily known by its grey silky leaves and blue flowers. 

 I first noticed it on the granite slopes of Mount Cudtheringa at 

 the back of Townsville, but afterwards found it was a common 

 plant on all grassy plains throughout tropical Queensland. 

 Forrest gathered it in North-west Australia, and in G-regory's 

 Expedition Baron von Mueller brought it from Sturt's Creek. 



