28 



have, a branching habit, and under ordinary conditions produce 

 a great amount of nutritious herbage, which is greedily eaten by 

 all herbivora. When these grasses become so dry that the stems 

 and leaves break to pieces, stock may often be seen licking 

 them off the ground, and they seem to do well on this 

 feed, notwithstanding its uninviting appearance. Experienced 

 drovers assert that stock travel farther and keep in better 

 condition when fed on these than on any other grasses in 

 Australia — a practical proof of their high feeding value. Astrebla 

 triticoides is the tallest and most vigorous of the Mitchell grasses, 

 and may frequently be seen growing from four to five feet high, 

 and forming large tussocks. Its strong, wiry roots penetrate 

 deeply into the earth, and enable the grass to withstand a 

 phenomenal amount of dry weather. The seeds, when ripe, are 

 like small grains of wheat, and at one time formed an important 

 article of food for the aborigines. There is a variety (var. lap- 

 pacea), of this grass, with ears often more than six inches long, 

 somewhat like big wheat ears, and larger seeds than the species, 

 and they separate easily from the chaff-like grains of wheat. 

 Where wheat would not grow, owing to the great heat, that 

 variety might, after a few years of thorough cultivation and 

 careful selection, be found an excellent substitute, for, according 

 to the best authorities, the wheat plant developed from much less 

 promising material. 



The "star" or "windmill" grass (Ghloris truncata) occurs 



both east and west of the Dividing Range, and generally on the 

 richest soils. It is abundant on some of the inland plains, and 

 forms a good percentage of many of the pastures in the coastal 

 areas. The " star " grass is very variable as regards its height and 

 the size ot its inflorescence. It generally grows from two to 

 three teet high wit h the inflorescence 15 inches in diameter ; but 

 west of the Darling River there is a form which rarely exceeds a 

 foot, being sometimes only six inches high, with the flower spike | 

 m JJT m ? he8 / cross - .On the country bordering the Macquaric 



whorl J T *?° Tm W ? ich has its flower s P ikes superimposed in 

 ^oils^ On loose 



Notw UhBtoiSint u " - and a maDy 1>laces forms a dense turf - 



wh ich i much ^ t JiT^TV 1 * S elds a rich > 8ucculent herba ^ 

 fond nf U ™,i * 1 * y aU herbivor a, sheep being particularly 



are w LTeh d striKi C ^°™ ^igenous to Australia, and they 



having ^ ^f eputaiio^;1t°h f £*? ™ ^^ ^ <~ 

 "blue star arass 'C « a 2 *\ B to « kow ners, who know them as 



populartam^rea^y menrned?^ *" *"»>" M ^ aS by the 





rich, brown, silky InCest^T"^ 61 ' vegetation, by its 



" brown top." This very Tunerint '„ » Ce " ls 80o >««nie S called 



# P.fulta 



P ' CUmin ^ var - f*™ of HackeFs Mo^r^ 



