Forage Plants of Australia. 51 



ORDER, CHENOPODIACE/E. 



CHEXOPODITJM NITEAEIACEA, P.v.M. 



" Branching Goosefoot." 

 Flora Austr., Vol. F, p. 158. 



A DIVARICATELY-BRANCHED undershrub of 3 or 4 feet in height, though under 

 cultivation we have seen this plant 8 feet high and 6 feet through. The 

 whole plant has a hoary or mealy-w r hite appearance. The leaves are alternate, 

 sometimes clustered at the ends of the branchlets, and variable in shape, but 

 mostly linear, oblong, obtuse, and from to 1 inch in length. The flowers 

 are very small, sessile, usually clustered in interrupted or dense spikes, 

 as shown in the engraving. At Figure I is illustrated an enlarged drawing 

 of the fruit, winch is partly enclosed in a five-lobed perianth. This plant is 

 found principally about the Murray and Avoca Rivers in Victoria, Swan 

 Eiver in West Australia, and near the Darling Eiver in New South Wales. 

 On the Darling Eiver Plats it was at one time moderately plentiful ; but, 

 through the overstocking of runs of late years, it has been rendered some- 

 what scarce. Herbivora of all descriptions are remarkably fond of this 

 plant ; and when other herbage has been scarce, they often have cropped it 

 down so close to the ground that it has had little chance to recuperate. 

 When left unmolested for a time, however, it rapidly recovers, and produces 

 seed in abundance, which, if sown when ripe, germinates readily under 

 ordinary conditions. This is one of the famous salinous plants which are 

 rapidly disappearing from the central plains of this continent, much to the 

 regret of all stockowners, who, however, have done nothing in the way of 

 cultivation, or even conservation, of these valuable forage plants. It will 

 be necessary to enter upon a system of conservation of this and many of 

 its allies, if our central plains are to maintain the high reputation they 

 have acquired of being such rich pasture grounds for stock. By continued 

 neglect of these most valuable pasture plants, we are slowly but surely 

 injuring our best interests. We often hear the remark, " What would the 

 country do without its wool?" but we never have heard any one say, 

 <; What would be the result if these valuable plants die out?" Some fine 

 day we may be rudely awakened to the fact that, instead of being able to 

 conserve what material we are already possessed of at very little expense, a 

 costly system of cultivation will have to be resorted to to feed the flocks 

 and herds on the plains of the interior. The seeds of this plant should be 

 sown during the early autumn months if there should be sufficient rainfall 

 to moisten the earth. Failing this, the seeds may be sown in September or 

 October, when the ground is moist. 



There are about twelve species of the genus Ckenopodium found growing in 

 Australia. Seven appear to be endemic, and five of them are widely distri- 

 buted over the temperate and sub-tropical portions of the globe. The leaves 

 and youngest shoots of many species arranged under this genus are used as 

 pot-herbs in some countries. CJienopodium ambrosioides, Linn., which is a 

 common weed in Australia, is said to contain an essential oil possessing 

 tonic and anti-spasmodic properties. The exotic species, to which the 

 greatest interest attaches, is, however, C. quinoa (which has been introduced 

 in Australia), indigenous to the Pacific slopes of the Andes, where it is 

 largely cultivated in Chili and Peru for the sake of its seeds, which are 

 extensively used as an article of food. The seeds contain a great amount of 

 albumen, which no doubt constitute them a nutritious article of food. 



