4 8 9 



tected. This salt-bush and the purslane tree should be fenced in 

 and cultivated, until a considerable number of plants have been 

 raised. A reserve stock should always be kept in what may be 

 called the "nursery." By the way, there should be a nursery on 

 every selection and station for the propagation and acclimatisation 

 of desirable plants. 



There has been published in the Journal of the Bureau of 

 Agriculture from time to time a number of letters from residents of 

 the north-west, descriptive of the indigenous valuable fodder plant 

 known locally as the " milk-bush." The writers all agree as to its 

 value as a fodder plant in the arid districts, and that it will not 

 stand over-stocking. In many sections it has already from this 

 cause entirely disappeared. To quote from Mr. G. J. Brockman 

 " It is a plant now only to be remembered by its name in the 

 north." It is a pity that some measures have not been devised for 

 its preservation in the districts where it has been entirely eaten out. 

 The Bureau is endeavouring to raise plants from seeds and cuttings, 

 and, if successful, young plants will in the near future be available 

 for distribution. Under date of December sgth, 1896, Mr. G. J. 

 Brockman sent the Bureau a number of specimens of the bush, 

 also a pod of seed. The latter, he writes, " is very poor quality, 

 owing to the drought." The Bureau is also indebted to Mr. A. J. 

 Ogilvie for specimens of seeds and plants. Photographs have been 

 taken of the plant (an illustration of which is given) and specimens 

 sent to Mr. F. Turner, F.L.S., for identification and description, 

 who reports as follows : 



" The ' milk-bush ' belongs to the order asclepiadeae. Sarcos- 

 tcnuna Auslrale^ R. Br. 



"Etymology. Sarcoslemma, from sarx, sarkos, flesh; and 

 stemma, a crown, in reference to the thick, fleshy nature of the 

 inner corona. Austral e, southern. 



" Diagnosis. A glabrous, leafless, somewhat fleshy twiner, 

 woody at the base, the branches cane-like, round, often articulate 

 at the nodes, the leaves replaced by minute opposite scales. 

 Umbels sessile on one side of the nodes between the scales. 

 Pedicels about a quarter of an inch long. Calyx-segments ovate, 

 obtuse^ scarcely half a line long. Corolla white, deeply divided 

 into ovate obtuse lobes of about two lines. Outer corona aduate to 

 the base of the gynostegium and about half its length, much undulate 

 and sinuate, but not lobed ; the segments of the inner corona 

 saccate, fleshy, nearly as long as the anthers. Follicles (pod-like 

 fruits) rather narrow, two or three inches long. These are full of 

 seeds, each one of which is surmounted by a tuft of silky-white 

 hairs. This is the only known species in Australia, and is endemic. 

 Plot a Aiistr., vol. iv, p. 328. 



" Remarks. The plant is found in all the Australian colonies, 

 but is more abundant in the warmer portions of the continent. It 

 abounds in a milky juice, which is said to be used by the aborigines 



