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_ Several species of the allied genus Swainsona, which are widely 
distributed over the continent, are very good forage plants, stock 
eating them readily and thriving on them. Two species (S. galegi- 
consequences frequently follow, hut when they eat them with plenty 
of other herbs and grass ill-effects have rarely been noticed, 
Native plantain, or wild sago, (/’antago varia).—A perennial herb, 
with a long root, and leaves varying from less than 6 inches to 
| foot long. It.is found over a great part of Australia, and on 
large areas in the interior it is fairly abundant. This plant grows 
on both rich and inferior country, but on the former yields a larger 
amount of herbage. Its succulent, mucilaginous leaves are much 
relished by sheep and dairy cows fed on the plant are said to yield 
plenty of milk. Horses, however, eat the plant but sparingly. 
When not too closely fed over, this plant produces an abundance of 
seed upon which some kinds of birds ts seeds are some- 
times gathered by the settlers in the back country, who use them as 
a substitute for commercial sago, hence one of its common names. 
There are six species and several varieties of the genus Plantago 
indigenous to Australia, three of them occurring in the coldest 
parts, with much the same properties as the one referred to, 
