208 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



Flindersia Australia, E. Brown. 



New South Wales and Queensland. With Araucaria Cunning- 

 ham! and Ficus macrophylla, the tallest of all the jungle-trees of 

 its localities, attaining 150 feet. Bark scaly ; stem to a diameter 

 of 8 feet. A noble tree for avenues. Rate of growth, according* 

 to Mr. Ch. Fawcett, about 25 feet in eight years. Timber of 

 extraordinary hardness [Ch. Moore]. It is so tough as to serve for 

 the yokes of draught-oxen. Mr. Jennings' ingenious method of 

 exsiccating moist substances by the " cool dry air-press," is not 

 only applicable to esculent fruits, but also to any kind of timber, 

 which by this method can be "seasoned '' in a few days without 

 splitting or warping. 



Flindersia Oxleyana, l . v. Mueller. 



The Yellow Wood of New South Wales and Queensland, called 

 " Bogum Bogum " by the aborigines. Its wood is used locally for 

 dye, also for staves as well as that of F. Australis, Tarrietia Argyro- 

 dendron, >tenocarpus salignus and Castanospermum Australe ; Mr. 

 C. Hartmann mentions, that F. Oxleyana attains a height of 150 

 feet, and supplies one of the finest hardwoods for choice cabinet- 

 work. Other species occur, among which F. Beimettiaiia is the 

 best for avenue-purposes. Among other meliaceous trees of East- 

 Australia are very tall : Dysoxylon Fraseri, I). Lesserti and D, 

 Muelleri (Bentham), all three yielding exquisite timber. 



Fceniculum officinale, Allioni. 



The Fennel. Mediterranean regions, particularl} r on limestone- 

 soil, extending to Central Asia ; certainly wild in Turkestan [Dr. 

 A. von Hegel]. A perennial or biennial herb, of which primary 

 varieties occur, the so-called sweet variety having fruits almost 

 twice as large as the other, The herb and fruits are in use a& 

 condiments and the latter also for medicine. The fruits are rich 

 in essential oil, containing much anethol. Vilmorin found them 

 to keep their vitality for about four years ; he also remarks, that 

 the bleached leafstalks yield Carosella-salad. A variety, F. dulce 

 (Bauhin), yields its young shoots for boiling as a vegetable of 

 sweetish taste and delicate aroma. Behaved admirably in Central 

 Australia, braving the worst of droughts [Rev. H. Kempe]. 



Fourcroya Cubensis, Haworth. 



West-Indies and continental tropical America. A smaller species 

 than the following, but equally utilised for fibre and impenetrable 

 hedges. Succeds in Natal [J. M. Wood]. F. flavo-viridis 

 (Hooker), from Mexico, is still smaller. 



Fourcroya g-ig-antea, Ventenat. 



Central America. In species of Yucca, Agave, Dracaena, Cordy- 

 line, Phormium, Doryanthes and this as well as a few other Four- 

 croyas we have gigantic liliaceous and amaryllideous plants avail- 



