211 
panicles of small flowers. The most familiar names of the tree are 
bog onion and onion wood, names which have arisen on account o 
the onion-like odour which is noticeable. in newly-cut wood. The 
odour is said to disappear quickly, however, and to be no detriment 
to the value of the timber, which is used for cabinetwork, furniture, 
&e. Maiden records a curious character of the wood. This is, that 
although the wood when newly cut has usually a disagreeable smell, 
it is sometimes quite fragrant and hs petal of that of ripe w ater 
melons. A specimen of “the wood in Museum No. I a t Kew, shows 
it to be prettily marked with a satiny jase. 
Melia Azedarach, LZ. and M. Azedarach, Z. var. australasica, 
C. DC.—Bastard Cedar, “White Cedar, isea Tre 
For all practical purposes these two trees ily be considered 
together, for as Maiden indicates in his description of the latter 
tree, “ Forest Flora of New South Wales,” iii, pt. xxv, No. 92, p. 
3, they are practically identical. M. Azedarach is a familiar 
decorative greenhouse plant in this country, being often grown 
mder the name of Persian lilac. In Australia, India and other 
bonkitries, it forms a tree up to 60 feet in height with a trunk 2 feet 
or so in diameter. Its compound leaves, “which are large and 
e coke anches. They are followed = yellow, berry-like . fruits 
containing small hard seeds which are sometimes threaded and used 
for beads (see specimens in Museum No, I, at Kew e fruits 
appear to be highly poisonous to human beings and animals although 
some birds are said to feed on them without inconvenience. 
Maiden, l.c. pp. 95-96, has collected a good deal of evidence relating 
to the poisonous nature of the fruit, and amongst other animals, 
pigs appear to be very susceptible to the effects of the poison. 
The juice of the bark and leaves has been collected by the er 
land natives and used for poisoning fish. Moore described t 
timber for the 1862 Exhibition Catalogue as being soft, susie 
d 
een sland Woods oe at the Colonial and Indian 
Exhibition, London, 1886.” As Maiden, however, indicates, 
M. composita, Willd., is now considered asa synonym of M, Azedarach. 
Flindersia australis, 2. Br.—Red Cedar. 
This species is described by F. M. Bailey i in his 1886 * Catalogue 
of Queensland Woods,” and is sometimes called Crow’s Ash. 
Forming a medium-sized tree, it is described as having pinnate 
leaves made up of from 3 to 6 oblong leaflets, and producing white 
flowers in rather dense clusters. The wood is yellow, ves 
very hard, and of great strength and durability. 
30401 B 
