70 AUSTRALIAN GRASSES AND PASTURE PLANTS 



it is said that the aborigines use it as a therapeutic agent. 

 When first the Milk Bush attracted the attention of the stock- 

 owners in the western State, the Government of West 

 Australia forwarded me a specimen for identification, and 

 instructed me to write a report on it. The Milk Bush is found 

 in all the States of the Commonwealth, except Tasmania, 

 and in some sections from the coast to the far interior, but more 

 plentifully in the hotter portions of the continent. It is a 

 leafless shrub, with fleshy, cane-like, round branches, on the 

 joints of which are disposed small white flowers arranged in 

 clusters. These are succeeded by rather narrow, pod-like 

 fruits from two to three inches long, containing a number of 

 small seeds, each being surmounted by a tuft of silky-white 

 hairs. The whole plant abounds in a milky juice. I have 

 known stock in the interior of New South Wales eat this plant 

 without any ill effects, and after numerous inquiries I have 

 never heard of pasture animals in that State suffering from 

 eating it. All the stockowners in West Australia, who com- 

 municated with their local Department of Agriculture agreed 

 that the Milk Bush was a valuable forage plant for the arid 

 districts, but that it would not stand overstocking. Mr. S. 

 Dixon, South Australia, says that he has known cattle live upon 

 this plant, without water, for some months of continued 

 drought. 



Mulga (Acacia aneura) occurs in the eastern and southern 

 portions of the continent, and occupies large tracts of country 

 on the droughty inlands. There are two distinct forms of 

 Mulga which some stockowners call "Yarren, " one with 

 rather broad and the other with narrow leaves (phyllodes). 

 They are usually tall shrubs, but occasionally attain the 

 dimensions of fair sized trees and withstand a very long period 

 of dry weather without any appreciable check to their growth. 

 A Mulga shrub is considered a valuable asset on any station, 



