24 



ciallj where liable to occasional floods, and in the immense 

 plains of the interior is a most reliable sign of those water- 

 courses which, as they only become such at very long intervals, 

 could hardly be traced but for this singular plant. Petals it 

 has not, but the calyx is five-lobed, with abroad horizontal con- 

 nate membrane. All kinds of stock are often largely dependent 

 on it during protracted droughts, and when neither grass nor hay 

 are obtainable I have known the whole bush chopped up and 

 mixed with a little corn, when it proved an excellent fodder 

 for horses. One drawback it has : its stems being very fibrous, 

 and the older portions indigestibly so, it is the principal cause 

 of those bezoars or felted knobs in the maniplus of the sheep, 

 which in very protracted droughts kill them by kundreds. 

 When, however, the rains come, and soft herbage is abundant, 

 these bezoars either partially dissolve or become covered with 

 a shiny-black coating, so that they then resemble a " papier- 

 mache " ball. I believe the Cotton Bush attains a great age, 

 and have often observed the extreme distance its fibrous roots 

 spread. This is another of those plants which should never be 

 ploughed up. As far as I have observed it does not commonly 

 grow^ again, and has a greater value in its native habitat than 

 anything which can permanently be grown there, and appa- 

 rently does not seed freely. 



Kocliia sedifoUa and K. villosa. — Commonly known as Blue 

 Bushes. These grow on very health}- sound sheep country, 

 but are not themselves good fodder plants. As a matter of 

 fact, should they be eaten, the sheep must have suffered a good 

 deal of starvation, and if they are eaten out, you may be 

 certain sheep must have died in numbers. Before leaving 

 Kocliia villosa^ it may be remarked that Baron von Mueller 

 looks upon the Cotton Bush (aphyUa) as merely a variety ; but 

 this is a case where we may look upon the sheep as a better 

 botanist than ourselves, as both K. villosa and sedifolia seem to 

 be very distasteful to them, and while we admit the exact 

 similarit}^ of the horny flower and fruit, I do think the extra- 

 ordinary length of th6 roots of the Cotton Bush, as Avell as its 

 difference in everything except the flowers and fruit, should 

 entitle it to a distinct and separate position, and allowing this, 

 I have observed two sorts growing near together mostly dis- 

 tinguished by the difference in the shade of their green stems, 

 and in this case too sheep make a difference between them. 

 Around Forbes, in Xew South "Wales, I have seen another 

 variety of aphylla ; its young shoots drooped, were of a lighter 

 green, and the small leaves or bracts more abundant. 



Uliagodia 'paraholica. — This is another saltbush, which pro- 

 duces a crood deal of foliage, and is not uncommon, (xenerallv 



