577 



sometimes easily discriminated by their general aspect as they 

 grmv, although their characters as given in books may, by them- 

 selves, appear inadequate. 



HEART- LEAVED POISON. 



(iti^folohiiiin bilohnm. A tall shrub, the young branches 

 angular, and usually silky ; leaves mostly in circles of 3 or 4 round 

 the branches, from oval to narrow-oblong, always more or less 

 wedge shaped, broad at the end or notched, with two short rounded 

 lobes, and with a minute short point, J to i^ in. long or rarely 

 smaller, veined and hairless above, pale and often minutely silky 

 underneath. Flowers numerous, in very short flat-topped bunches 

 rarely exceeding the leaves. Calyx silky, two to four lines long, 

 the two upper points broader and blunter than the others, and 

 united to about the middle. Upper petal about twice as long as 

 the calyx ; lower ones rather shorter, the lowermost deeply 

 coloured. Pod stalked, oval or oblong, rather sharply pointed, two, 

 three, and even four lines long. 



Var. a n gusli folium. Leaves narrow wedge-shaped, but not 

 otherwise differing from the common form. 



The botanical and the common names of this plant both have 

 reference to the two-lobedor heart shape of the leaf. It is reported 

 as found from York southwards to Albany and the Blackwood 

 River, in sandy, rocky, clayey, or loamy soil. The height to which 

 the shrub grows is very variable, like the nature of the soil, the 

 average being about six to ten feet, but the extremes are given as 

 6 inches to 20, or even 25 feet. It begins to flower in August or 

 September, continuing till December or January. It is most dan- 

 gerous to stock when the young shoots come up after bush fires, at 

 flowering and at seeding time, and all kinds of stock are liable to 

 be poisoned by it. 



ROCK POISON. 



Gastrolobium callistachys. An erect shrub of 2 or 3 feet, with 

 twiggy branches, minutely and closely silky-hairy ; leaves scattered 

 or in irregular circles on the branches, very narrow, blunt or some- 

 times even indented at the end, which is tipped with a minute 

 point, i to 2 inches long, flat or with recurved edges, hairless or 

 silky-hairy underneath ; flowers rather large, in terminal racemes 

 of 3 to 4 inches ; calyx silky, fully 3 lines long, the two upper lobes 

 broadly scimitar-shaped, but scarcely united together ; upper petal 

 nearly twice as long as the calyx ; the others about as long ; pod 

 about 4 lines long, broadly oval, scarcely acute, on a stalk of i 

 lines. 



Bentham adds to his description : " This is sent as one of the 

 Swan river poison-plants." 



Found in hilly and rocky country in the north and north- 

 eastern districts of the colony, from the Murchison to the Kalgan, 

 but not plentiful. Grows to a height of I foot to 3, 5, or 7 feet, 

 and flowers between September and December. 



