32 



and resemble Walnut. Iii the Colony it is extensively used no less for 

 building purposes, tliaii for cabinetmaker's and carpen'^er's work. It 

 furnishes the finest and most substantial articles of furniture, is superior 

 to every other wood in the manufacture of gunstoeks, and serves the 

 wagonmaker also for various purposes. At tho river Knysna^ where 

 this tree attains a considerable size, the white variety has been employed 

 even in shij)- building. 



In consequence, peihaps, of the peculi:\r odour exhaled by this wood 

 when fresh, furniture made of it is little infested by vermin. 



Grows in the primev^al forests throughout a great portion of the 

 Colony, and is even found in the bushy ravines of Table Mountain. 

 There however, it is never allowed to become a stately tree, owing to 

 the wanton usage of firing the mountain every year, a practice which 

 not only destroys the most valuable timber, but greatly diminishes the 

 supply of water, the occasional Avant of which in summer would not be 

 felt so often, if the legislature Avere either to enact stringent laws against 

 the continuance of this outrage, or to enforce, in a modified form, those 

 in existence. Fl. October. 



PROTEACE^. R. Br. 



89. Lcucadendron Ai-genteum. B, Br. (Silver-tree ; Witte^ 

 boom.) — Branches and twigs round, rough, erect, tomentose 

 Leaves crowded, sessile, alternate, lanceolate, glandular at top, 

 entire, silky. Flowers dioecious, capitate in both sexes. Capitula 

 many-flov/ered, terminal, solitary, surrounded with imbricated 

 leaves. Bracts dilated, imbricated, tomentose. Calyx 4 parted, 

 regular. Sta7nens 4 ; style filiform ; stigma oblique, clavate, 

 emarginate : C07ie of female flowers ovate, large ; its scales obtuse, 

 concave, woody. Nut black, one seeded, wingless, inclosed 

 within the scales of the C07ie. 



Height from 8 to 10 feet; diameter from 8 to 12 inches. Bark 

 thick. Wood soft, spongy, and liable to be infested by insects. Used 

 occasionally for boxes, &c , but more commonly for fuel. 



This handsome tree is, on account of its fine silvery foliage, seen at 

 a great distance, and has a very limited station, b^^ng peculiar only to 

 Cape Town and vicinity. Fl. September — October. 



90. Protea Grandijlora. Lin. (Wagon-tree; Wagenhoom.) 

 — Much branched. Branches purplish, erect, smooth. Leaves 

 alternate, oblong, sessile, glabrous, blunt, leathery, veiny, entire, 

 callous at top. Floivers hermapliroditical, capitate, terminal. 

 Capitula large, half-round, terminal, involucratecl. Involucres 

 many-scaled ; outer scales ovate, clothed with a rust-coloured 

 shag ', inner ones spathulate, smooth. Perianth 2 partite, tomen- 

 tose ; staminiferoiis laminoe cohei'ing ; style awl-shaped, persistent. 

 Nut one-seeded, bearded. Bot. Magaz. t. 2,447. 



Height about C-8 feet; breadth 6-8 inches. Bark brown, thick, 

 much rent. The ivood has a reddish tint ; its grain is beautifully 



