BY F. M. BAILEY, F.L.S. 181 



the names of Blue-bush, Cotton-bush, Salt-bush, &c. It will 

 be sufficient to mention a few of the most useful fodders amongst 

 them, viz., Chenopodium auricomum, Lindl, the Blue-bush ; 

 Kochia brevifolia, R. Br., the Cotton-bush ; Atriplex nummu- 

 laria, Lindl, the Old Man Salt-bush ; A. vesicaria, Heward 

 — this is considered at the Diamantina as the best for fodder of 

 all the salt-bushes. 



Eremophila polyclada, F. v. M., and Muhlenbeckia Cun- 

 NiNGHAMii, F. v. M., are both frequently met with growing 

 together, and have each received the local name " Lignum," 

 which is probably an abbreviation of Polygonum — a genus to 

 which the latter is closely allied. By some they are considered 

 useful fodder bushes. 



Loeanthus Exocarpi. Behr. The fruit of this and other 

 mistletoes is eaten by the natives. 



The three Euphorbias which the collection contained, viz., 

 E. Drummondii, Bnisil ; E. eremophila, A. (Junn ; and E. serru- 

 lata. Rim, are all considered poisonous to stock. 



The grass specimens of the collection numbered about 

 thirty kinds, including the Spinifex, Mitchell-grass, Blue-grass, 

 Star-grass, and many of the Love-grasses. The most interest- 

 ing of all, however, were two growths of that excellent pasture 

 grass, Sporoholiis c/jv/Z^/c^/.s, var. pallida. The one of these 

 gathered on the Cooper, spreads over the land by its long trail- 

 ing stems, forming distant plants in a somewhat similar manner 

 to that of the Strawberry. The other, obtained on the Georgina, 

 was of a more slender habit, the stems frequently forming tufts 

 at the joints. Many of the shorter erect stems were coated with 

 a peculiar substance, probably of fungus origin, and approaching 

 the genus Epichloe, which seems to excite a growth of adventi- 

 tious leafy short shoots, which are said to fall from the stems 

 and take root in the mud. 



Marsilea Drummondh, a. Br. (The Nardoo). This plant 

 produces at the present time, as in the days of Burke and Wills, 

 the staple food of the natives of the Diamantina. Dr. Bancroft 

 brought some of the damper made by the natives from the 

 pounded involucres and spores to Brisbane, one of which may 

 be seen on the table this evening. Besides furnishing food for 

 the natives, the plant is prized as a fodder for stock. 



