62 Forage Plants of Australia. 



ORDER CHENOPODIACE.E. 



ATEIPLEX SEMIBACCATA, S. BE. 

 "Half-berried saltbush/' 



Flora Austr., Vol. V,p. 175. 



A PEOCTJMBENT or prostrate much-branched, slender perennial plant, with 

 herbaceous stems spreading from 1 foot to 2 or mure feet. The whole plant is 

 pale green, though sometimes it is mealy white. Its leaves are arranged on 

 short stalks, and somewhat variable in shape, but mostly oblong-lanceolate, 

 or cuneate, sinuate toothed, and rather thin, and from i to 1 inch in 

 length. The flowers are monoecious ; the males are arranged in little 

 globular clusters in the upper leaf axils, and surrounded by a few females, but 

 the latter often are alone in the lower leaf axils. At figure 1 is illustrated 

 an enlarged drawing of the fruiting perianth, which is more or less rhomboidal, 

 and about i of an inch long, and nearly as broad in the centre, with three prom- 

 inent nerves. The lower half is usually thickened, but not succulent as one 

 would suppose from its specific name; the upper half consisting of flat 

 triangular valves, which are herbaceous only near the margins. This plant 

 is found in all the colonies, from a few stations near the coast to the arid 

 interior, but it does not appear to be very plentiful anywhere. On the 

 Darling and Lachlan Eivers, in New South Wales, the plant is held in much 

 esteem by stockowners as a most valuable herb for sheep, which eat it down 

 with avidity, and often so close that it has little chance to recuperate or 

 produce seed. Consequently it is becoming scarce in some situations where 

 a few years ago it might be seen growing in moderate quantities among 

 other herbage. It is one of the famous salinous plants that are fast dis- 

 appearing from the central plains of this continent through overstocking, 

 and unless something is done in the way of conservation of this plant, and 

 many of its allies, within the next few years, conservation will be difficult, 

 and a, system of cultivation will have to be resorted to if ever we intend to 

 perpetuate the growth of our high-class wool. Climate, no doubt has a 

 great deal to do with the production of high-class wool, but the indigenous 

 herbage is the principal factor. The plant under notice when left unmolested 

 for a time produces seed in fair quantities, and it germinates readily under 

 ordinary conditions. The seeds should be sown after rainfall during the. 

 autumn months, or, failing this, during September or October whilst the 

 ground is moist. If this is attended to germination will take place quickly. 



