64 Forage Plants of Australia. 



OBDER CHENOPODIACE^E. 



ATEIPLEX LEPTOCAEPA F. v. M. 



" Slender Fruited Saltbush." 



Flora Amir., Vol. V, p. 178. 



A PEEENISTAL plant with herbaceous procumbent stems extending from 1|- to 

 2 or more feet, and covered all over with a hoary scaly tomentum. The leaves 

 are very variable, but mostly oblong and coarsely angular-toothed, and from 

 1 inch, to 2 inches in length. Its flowers are monoecious, and are arranged in 

 axillary globular clusters, usually in the upper leaf axils. At figure 1 is 

 illustrated an enlarged drawing of the fruiting perianth, which is narrow, 

 tubular, and cylindrical. The lower part of the tube is hard and solid, but 

 the portion above the fruit is more herbaceous, green, and elegantly veined. 

 This plant is common on the Darling and Castlereagh Bivers in New South 

 Wales, in the interior of Queensland, and near the Murray River in South 

 Australia, sometimes carpeting the ground for a considerable distance. Its 

 drought-enduring qualities are remarkable, and even in adverse seasons it 

 will yield a fair amount of forage which herbivora of all kinds are fond of 

 sheep particularly so, for they often browse it down so close to the ground 

 that it dies right out. When this plant is not too closely fed down, it 

 produces seed in abundance, and the seeds germinate readily under ordinary 

 conditions. They should be sown in February or March, after rainfall if 

 possible. If the season, however, proves to be exceptionally dry at that 

 time, the sowing may be deferred until September or October. 



