134: NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC BOTANY, 



me copies of both Acts I am able to quote clause 1 3 of the Amend- 

 ing Act, which is as follows : — "Any person who cuts down or 

 injures a coco-nut tree, or other tree bearing edible fruit, or any 

 tree of the kind known as Galophyllum inophyllum .... 

 shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ,£10." 



I wrote to the Hon. John Douglas, C.M.G., Government 

 Resident, Thursday Island, asking what was the effect of this 

 legislation, and he courteously supplied the following informa- 

 tion: — "Coco-nut trees are, I think I may say, religiously respected. 

 We have not many matured trees in this immediate neighbourhood, 

 though there are plenty in the islands in the Straits. A good 

 many have lately been planted, and some of them are doing pretty 

 well, but there are a good many failures. The Ccdophyllwm 

 'nwpJn/Jlum, of which there are very few specimens, is not likely 

 to be touched by ruthless hands" (July, 1890). 



Sterculia diversifolia, G. Don. N.O. Sterculiacese. A 

 " Kurrajong." 



It has been recorded, many years ago, by Macarthur and others, 

 that this tree possesses an edible root, but I give the following more 

 detailed information. The tree seems hardly, if at all, known in 

 the Candelo district by the above name, but it is well known as 

 the " Yam-tree," on account of the large yam-like root the tree 

 possesses, at all events in the young state ; these are locally known 

 as yams, and they were at one time sought after by the aborigi- 

 nals for food. In the case of some small trees, less than one inch 

 in diameter, which were dug up for planting, they had yams from 

 eight to twelve inches long, and two or three in diameter, weighing 

 several pounds. They have been got eight to ten pounds in weight, 

 and are not despised by Europeans. The outside skin or bark of 

 these yams can be easily removed, and looks like the skin of a 

 radish. The inside is beautifully white, a little sweetish in taste, 

 but otherwise rather insipid. I cannot learn whether the aborigi- 

 nals used to eat them raw or subject them to some process of 

 cooking. 



