SELECT PLANTS, 



READILY ELIGIBLE FOR INDUSTRIAL 

 CULTURE AND NATURALISATION. 



IN 



EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 



Aberia Caffra, J. Hooker and Harvey. 



The "Kei-Apple" of Natal and Caffraria. This tall shrub 

 serves well for hedges ; it bears only slight frost, but resists severe 

 droughts. The rather large fruits are acid, and when boiled 

 edible, and can also well be converted into preserves. Allied South- 

 African species are A. Zeyheri and A. tristis (Sonder). 



Acacia acuminata, JBentham. 



A kind of " Myall " from Western Australia, attaining a height 

 of 40 feet. The scent of the wood comparable to that of rasp- 

 berries. One ton of wood yields fully lib. of highly fragrant oil 

 on distillation [Capt. Noyes]. This species occurs through wide 

 regions in vast abundance. It is the best of West-Australian woods 

 for charcoal. The stems much sought for fence-posts, very lasting 

 for this purpose, even when selected young. A very similar tree 

 with hard and scented wood is A. Doratoxylon (A. Cunn), of the 

 dry regions of South-Eastern Australia. 



Acacia aneura. F. v. Mueller. 



Arid desert-interior of extra-tropic Australia. A tree, never 

 more than 25 feet high. The principal "Mulga" tree. Mr. S. 

 Dixon praises it particularly as valuable for fodder of pasture- 

 animals ; hence it might locally serve for ensilage. Mr. W. Johnson 

 found in the foliage a considerable quantity of starch and gum, 

 rendering it nutritious. Cattle and sheep browse on the twigs of 

 this and some allied species, even in the presence of plentiful grass, 

 and are much sustained by such Acacias in seasons of protracted 

 drought, but it is really valuable only as an admixture to fodder, 

 as otherwise it leaves an undigested fibrous substance behind. Drome- 

 daries in Australia crave for the Mulga as food. Wood excessively 



