22 



blossoms and downy grey-green leaves render it very con- 

 .spieiKHis, altliongli it docs not nnich exceed three feet high, and, 

 like other ])lants affecting the same situations, flowering after 

 copious rains. There should be no difficulty in growing it 

 commonly, but it does not like too moist a situation. It seems- 

 to be as much liked by sheep as by marsupials, and I have seen 

 large tracts quite cleared by their united efforts. 



Dodoncco viscosa. — The native Hop Bush, and one of the largest 

 of the Dodoneas growint; here. Its chief use as a fodder plant 

 is in the "hops," as bushmen call the four, round, winged seed 

 vessel, each section of which contains a little black seed. It pro- 

 duces large quantities of seeds, and during IN'ovember and 

 December, until its coppery-red seed vessels get too dry, sheep 

 and cattle eat them eagerly. The foliage is resinous, and ta 

 see the bush eaten down is a sure sign of " hard times" with 

 the sheep. It is sometimes twelve feet high or more, and likes 

 warm, red, sandy ground. In the old times when shepherds 

 were kept to look after sheep, the hutkeepers used the "hops" 

 as a substitute for the real hop in making sugar-beer and to 

 make yeast for bread. It is very suitable for cultivation in 

 shrubberies. 



Lyciiim australe. — This is a very useful fodder plant indeed. 

 It grows up to four feet in height, and is thickly covered with 

 short oblong juicy leaves. Drought never seems to affect it, 

 and having many spiny points, sheep can never quite eat it 

 out. It is also one of the very few shrubs in saltbush country 

 which throw out abundant suckers. The flower is small, lilac- 

 white, and salvia-shaped ; the fruit is also small, bright red, 

 and of a sweetish tomato flavour. The shrub is abundant 

 nearly everywhere, and is often recklessly destroyed by farmers 

 in their attempts to grow wheat in unsuitable places. I believe 

 it to be very fattening, and likes saline soils. 



Zijgojphijllumfruticulosum. — This small shrub is very comm.on 

 in calcareous soils and sandhills. It has small juicy linear leaf- 

 lets in pairs. The seed vessels resemble in shape and size the 

 Dodoncpa above described. It has an abundance of single yellow 

 flowers, and on Torke's Peninsula, around Wallaroo, it grows 

 very plentifully on long fallowed ground. It is also common 

 among the malice scrubs, and sheep, feeding where it is common, 

 care less for water, finding abundance of moisture in its singular 

 leaves. Erom a letter of Baron Sir F. v. Mueller to Prof. E. 

 Tate it appears that the ZygopliyUum family is poisonous in 

 South Africa, and certainly I have had reason to suspect 

 Z. glaucesens of killing sheep, but have never had the opportunity 

 of testing it. I am, however, very confident that Z. fruticu- 

 losum is not injurious, for although not universally and at all 



