

in Kctr a- Tropical Countries. 113 



about 27 per cent, of starch, 17 per cent, of oil, and 12 per cent, of 

 saccharine substance ; other (French) analyses give 28 per cent, oil, 

 29 starch, 14 sugar, 7 gum, 14 cellulose. This plant does not 

 injuriously spread like the C. rotundus, and can be reared on sand- 

 land, though in rich loose soil the harvest is far more plentiful. The 

 tubers, of which as many as 100 to 150 may be obtained from each 

 plant, are consumed either raw or cooked. Hogs root them up for 

 food. The oil surpasses in excellence of taste all other oils used for 

 culinary purposes. The tubers are a fair substitute for coffee, when 

 properly roasted; the root-crop is available in from four to six months. 

 The plant may become important in the most dreary and arid desert- 

 countries through naturalization. In Norway it can be grown to lat. 

 67 06' (Schuebeler). The root of the North-American C. phymato- 

 des (Muehlenberg) is also nutty. 



Cyperus Papyrus, Lmn. 



The Nile-Papyrus, wild in various regions of Africa. Attains a 

 height of 16 feet. Though no longer strictly a utilitarian plant, as in 

 ancient times, it could scarcely be passed on this occasion, as it ought 

 to become valuable in the horticultural trade. Its grand aspect 

 recommends it as very decorative for aquatic plantations. 



Cyperus Syriacus, Parlatore. 



The Syrian or Sicilian Papyrus, This is the Papyrus-plant usual 

 in garden-cultivation. It found its way to Australia first through the 

 action of the writer of this work. The plants in the Melbourne 

 Botanic Garden attain a height of 8 feet, but suffer somewhat from 

 frost. Other tall decorative Cyperi deserve introduction, for instance: 

 C. giganteus (Rottboell) from the West-Indies and Guiana; these 

 kinds of plants being hardier than the generality of others from the 

 tropics. 



Cyperus tegetum, Roxburgh. 



North-Eastern Africa, India, China and North Australia. This 

 Galingale-Rush might be naturalized on river-banks to obtain material 

 for the superior mats made of it in Bengal. The fresh stems are slit 

 longitudinally into three or four pieces, each of which curls round 

 while drying, and can then be worked into durable and elegant mats. 

 In China it is cultivated like rice, but in brackish ground only, where 

 narrow channels will allow the water to flow in and out with the rising 

 and receding tide (Hance and Dilthey). 



Cyperus textilis, Thunberg. (Cyperus vaginatus, R. Brown.) 



Widely dispersed over the Australian continent, also occurring in 

 Southern Africa. It is restricted to swampy localities, and thus is 

 not likely to stray into ordinary fields. In the colony of Victoria it is 

 one of the best indigenous fibre-plants, and it is likewise valuable as 

 being with ease converted into pulp for good writing paper, as shown 

 by the author some years ago. Its perennial growth allows of regular 

 annual cutting. The natives of the Murray-River use this as well as- 

 Carex tereticaulis (F. v. M."i for nets. 



