668 



lily are also roasted, made into a sort of cake, and eaten cold by the 

 natives : " tliey likewise roast and pound the seeds of Zamia spiralis, 

 and then place the mass for two or three weeks in water, to take out 

 the bitter principle, after which it is eaten." At Maitland, forty miles 

 from Newcastle, by the Hunter river, some of the trees were clothed 

 with shaggy lichens, and supported the golden mistletoe : and " the 

 elk's-horn fern, Acrostichum alcicorne, which in Port Jackson gene- 

 rally grows on decomposing sandstone rocks, forms here protuberant 

 girdles round the trunks of trees, among the branches of which Ipo- 

 moea pendula and Marsdenia fragrans are striking climbers," Still 

 further up the Hunter River, Kennedia ovata, a species of Tecoma, 

 Sicyos australis, Nicotiana undulata, a species of Cannabis, and seve- 

 ral other striking plants were growing on the banks. In the adjacent 

 woods, called cedar- brushes, from the occurrence of Melia Azederach 

 or the white cedar, Eugenia myrtifolia and Ficus Muntia were observ- 

 ed. " The former resembles a large broad-leaved myrtle, and attains 

 to twenty feet in height ; its fruit, which is now ripe, is about the size 

 of a cherry, but oblong and purple, with a mixture of sweet and acid. 

 Ficus Muntia is a spreading fig, growing as large as an apple-tree. 

 Where its branches touch the ground, they root, and send up erect 

 shoots, forming a succession of trees. The insipid fruit, which is 

 about the size of a gooseberry, is sometimes produced from the bare 

 trunk and boughs, as well as from the leafy branches, giving the tree 

 a very unusual appearance. These cedar-brushes are also thick with 

 climbers, such as Cissus antarctica, the kangaroo vine, Eupomatia 

 laurinee, a briary bush allied to the custard- apple, but with inferior 

 fruit, and several Apocynese." 



Near Raymond's Terrace, where there is a manufactory of earthen- 

 ware, — 



" Sarcostemma australe, a remarkable leafless shrub, with green, succulent, climb- 

 ing stems, as thick as a quill, and bearing clusters of white flowers, resembling those 

 of a Hoya, was growing on some rough conglomerate rocks. In the more fertile spots, 

 by the sides of brooks, there was a species of yam, the root of which is eaten by the 

 aborigines, as well as Eugenia trinervis, and another shrub of the myrtle tribe, and 

 Logania floribunda, a privet-like bush, with small, white, fragrant blossoms. The 

 country toward Port Stephens, whither we next proceeded, was decorated with Acacia 

 longifolia, and some others of that genus, with lively yellow flowers, and with Bursa- 

 ria spinosa, which is fragrant and white, Lambertia formosa, a stifi" bush, with beautiful 

 deep criinson flowers, and Dillwynia parvifolia, with pretty orange blossoms." — p. 399. 



At Port Stephens, Swainsonia galegifolia, a low suffruticose bush, 

 with white or pink pea-flowers, was remarkably pretty. A little fur- 



