76 Forage Plants of Australia. 



OBDER CHENOPODIACE^. 



KOCHIA. APPEESSA, BEXTH. 



" Appressed-leaved Salt-bush." 



Flora Auslr., Vol. V, p. 188. 



A MUCH-BRANCHED shrub, attaining a height of from 1 to 2 feet, more or 

 ]ess clothed with a short cottony wool. Its leaves are small, linear, erect, 

 and appressed, thick and soft, and overlapped on the young shoots. The 

 flowers are solitary in the axils. At Figure I is illustrated the fruiting 

 perianth, which is usually glabrous ; the annular wing expanding about i of 

 an inch in diameter, is very thin, the veins fine, and not conspicuous. This 

 plant is found principally on the arid central plains of Australia, but it is not 

 abundant anywhere. Both cattle and sheep are fond of this shrub and eat it 

 down with avidity, often so closely that it has little chance to make much 

 growth ; hence it is becoming scarce in many situations where it once was 

 moderately plentiful. When left unmolested for a time, however, it rapidly 

 recovers itself, and produces an abundance of seed which will, when ripe, 

 germinate under ordinary conditions. If the seeds are sown in spring time, 

 and the drought is not too severe upon the young plants until well estab- 

 lished, they will perfect a crop of seeds in about three months ; so no great 

 outlay would be required to enter upon a proper system of conservation of 

 this plant. Its drought-enduring qualities are very remarkable, for, once it 

 is well established in the soil, it seems to be affected neither by the hot winds 

 and drought of the summer months, nor the cold wind of the winter season, 

 in the slightest degree. These are the peculiar climatic conditions under 

 which plants have to live on our central plains in the course of the year. 



