114 SELECT PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



(Bailey). It resists drought. Fattening and much relished by stock 

 (Dr. Curl). E. punctata (Hamilton) has a similarly wide range, 

 and is of equal pastoral utility. 



Ervum Lens, Linne. (Lens esculenta, Moench.) 



Mediterranean regions, Orient. Cultivated up to an elevation of 

 11,500 feet in India. The Lentil. Annual, affording in its seeds 

 a palatable and nutritious food. A calcareous soil is essential for 

 the prolific growth of this plant. The leafy stalks, after the removal 

 of the seeds, remain a good stable-fodder. The variety called the 

 Winter Lentil is more prolific than the Summer Lentil. Valuable 

 as honey-yielding for bees. 



Erythroxylon Coca, Lamarck.* 



Peru. This shrub is famed for the extraordinary stimulating pro- 

 perty of its leaves, which pass under the names of Spadic and 

 Coca. They contain two alkaloids, cocain and hygrin ; also a 

 peculiar tannic acid. More than 600,000 worth is annually col- 

 lected. The Peruvians mix the leaves with the forage of mules, to 

 increase their power of enduring fatigue. Whether any of the 

 many other species of Erythroxylon possess similar properties seems 

 never yet to have been ascertained. 



Eucalyptus Abergiana, F. v. Mueller. 



North Queensland. A stately tree with spreading branches and 

 dense foliage. The quality of its timber remained hitherto un- 

 known, but the species will probably prove one of the most suitable 

 among its congeners for tropical countries. 



Eucalyptus amygdalina, Labillardiere.* 



South-East Australia. Vernacularly known as Brown and White 

 Peppermint-tree, Giant Gum-tree, and one of the Swamp Gum- 

 trees or Mountain Ash. In sheltered springy forest glens attaining 

 exceptionally to a height of over 400 feet, there forming a smooth 

 stem and broad leaves, producing also seedlings of a foliage 

 different to the ordinary state of E. amygdalina, as occurs in more 

 open country, which has small narrow leaves and a rough brownish 

 bark. The former species or variety, which might be called Euca- 

 lyptus regnans, represents probably the loftiest tree on the globe. 

 Mr. G. W. Robinson, surveyor, measured a tree at the foot of 

 Mount Baw-Baw, which was 471 feet long. Another tree in the 

 Cape Otway ranges was found to be 415 feet long and 15 feet in 

 diameter, where cut for felling, at a considerable height above the 

 ground. Another tree measured at the base of the stem 69 feet in 

 circumference ; at 1 2 feet from the ground it had a diameter of 

 14 feet, at 78 feet a diameter of 9 feet, at 144 feet a diameter of 



