208 

 PROPAGATION. 



Propagation is most readily effected by seeds, but plants may be obtained 

 from layers and cuttings. Seeds may be put in at any time, planting 

 them an inch deep in light soil. As the nuts are very hard, they will, in 

 the ordinary way of planting, take a long time to germinate, and this 

 process may be facilitated, if desired, by placing them previously in a 

 heap of some material in a sta+e of fermentation from heat. When three 

 or four inches high the young plants should be lifted from the seed bed 

 and transplanted into another, or placed in pots. Layering should be 

 done early in the autumn or late in the spring. Cuttings of the ripened 

 wood of the current season's growth will strike in sand or light soil under 

 a hard glass or in a frame. 



AUSTRALIAN PEACH. 



The plant most generally known as the Native Peach is a small tree 

 called Santalum Preissianum (acuminatum) belonging to the order 

 Santalaceae, or the Santalwood family. This plant, however, most 

 commonly passes under its aboriginal name of " Quandong." It is an 

 evergreen with pale green foliage. The succulent fleshy part of the fruit, 

 as also the kernels are edible and used as food by the aborigii als, but the 

 flavour is not very inviting. The hard nuts are extensively used by 

 jewellers for necklaces, pins, and brooches, and are often carved with 

 pretty designs. The Quandong is indigenous to the dry interior districts 

 of Australia, and covers large areas. It is a handsome ornamental tree of 

 compact habit, and the peculiar pale green foliage contrasts well with the 

 darker hues of other shrubs. This plant, however is somewhat capricious 

 under cultivation, and will not bear transplanting The name, Native 

 Peach, is in some localities applied to Owenia acidula, which is described 

 under the heading of Australian Plums. 



AUSTRALIAN PLUMS. 



Fruits of various kinds are known under the name of Native Plum in 

 different parts of Australia. What is known as the Illawarra Black Plum 

 is the fruit of Cargi-llta australis (Diospyrus Cargillea, Maba Cargillea), 

 a small evergreen tree belonging to the order Ebenacese or the Ebony 

 family. The fruit is harsh in flavour, and about half-an-inch in diameter. 

 It is indigenous to Eastern Australia from Queensland as far south as 

 Illawarra. Another species, Cargillea pentamera, which is indigenous to 

 the same regions, yields a fruit called the Grey Plum, which is similar in 

 size and flavour to the other kind. Owenia acidula, an evergreen tree 

 attaining a height of from thirty to forty feet, is the Sour Plum of Queens- 

 land, and also passes under the name of the Native Peach. It belongs to the 

 natural order Meiiaceae. Two other species of Owenia vis cera-nfera and 

 venosa also yield fruits similar to the preceding, and these pass under, the 



