IX EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 327 



North America, yields three cuttings annually. Horses and cattle 

 relish it. It ought to be naturalised along swamps lagoons, and 

 river banks. It can be dried for hay. Finally it is recommended 

 as a plant for game. 



Symplocos ramosissima, Wallich. 



Himalaya, up to 7,500 feet. In Sikkim, according to Dr. Stewart, 

 the yellow silkworm is reared on the leaves of this tree. Two allied 

 species occur spontaneously iri the forests of East Australia. 



Syncarpia laurifolia, Tenore. 



Queensland and New South Wales. Vernacular name, Turpentine- 

 tree ; attains a height of 200 feet, with a stem of great thickness. 

 The wood is comparatively soft and brittle, but very durable, mostly 

 used for flooring and cabinet-making, as it takes a high polish. 

 (Hartmann.) 



Synoon glandulosum, A. de Jussieu. 



New South Wales and South Queensland. This evergreen tree 

 deserves cultivation in sheltered warm forest-valleys on account 

 of its rose-coloured wood. Some species of Dysoxylon of East 

 Australia produce also rosewood. 



Tacca pinnatifida, G. Forster. 



Sand-shores of the South Sea Islands. From the tubers of this 

 herb the main supply of the Fiji arrowroot is prepared. It is not 

 unlikely that this plant will endure a temperate clime. The Tacca 

 starch is much valued in medicine, and particularly used in cases 

 of dysentery and diarrhoea. Its characteristics are readily recog- 

 nised under the microscope. Several other kinds of Tacca are dis- 

 tinguished, but their specific limits are not yet well ascertained. 

 Dr. Seemann admits two (T. maculata and T. Brownii) for tropical 

 Australia, one of these extending as a hill-plant to Fiji. From the 

 leaves and flower-stalks light kinds of bonnets are plaited. A Tacca 

 occurring in the Sandwich Islands yields a large quantity of the 

 so-called arrowroot exported from thence. Other species (including 

 those of Ataccia) occur in India, Madagascar, Guinea, and Guiana, 

 all deserving tests in reference to their value as starch plants. 



Tagetes glanduligera, Schranck. 



South America. This vigorous annual plant is said by Dr. Prentice 

 to be pulicifugous. 



Talinum patens, Willdenow. (T. paniculatum, Gaertner.) 



From Mexico to Argentina. A perennial succulent herb, which 

 might easily be naturalised on coast rocks. It furnishes the 

 " Puchero" vegetable 



