IMrOIMAN'E OF STATE HERBARIUM 25 



aliJiost inexhaustible tloia " (ireat industries have been 

 hnilt up in other parts of the world, to cite one instance 

 the Cinrhona induslrv of India and Java, through the 

 investigations of native uses of plants. Many papers 

 liave been published in South Africa on the plants used 

 by the natives in medicine, many of these plants are 

 ])robably worthless but each species used medicinally 

 justities a close examination before it can be said to be 

 useless. This work r^Mjuires a thorough co-operation of 

 ihe chemist with the botanist on one hand, and with the 

 physiologist on the other. 



Not only is it probable that very many valuable 

 medicinal plants will be found among our native tlora, 

 but it is more than probable that other useful products 

 will be discovered Avhich may develop into profitable in- 

 dustries. More than ever is attention being paid to vege- 

 table products. In England in 191() the Council of the 

 British Association asked the Sectional Committees to 

 meet to consider what could be done in their respective 

 Sections to meet the problems which would arise after the 

 war. In the Botanical Section was a suggestion embracing 

 the more extended and thorough study of those plants of 

 economic value which are native of or capable of being 

 cultivated in Great Britian or other i)arts of the Empire. 

 ])r. A. B. Hendle, Keeper of the Botanical Department of 

 the British Museum, with the help of Kew drew up a 

 list of economic plants. 



A number of these plants or their allies occur in South 

 Africa and the following list shows a few that might open 

 up a profitable field of investigation. 



Liniim (flax.) Seed and oil imported into Great Britain 

 in 1913, £2,836,986; 4 species occur in S.A. 



Trichelia emetica. Seeds valued at £8 to 9 per ton. Tin's 

 tree occurs in South Africa. 



Eugenia caryophylla. (Oil of Cloves). There iire at 

 least 5 species of Eugenia native. 



