AUSTRALIA 51 
to retain moisture. The most wide-spread types of 
Australian vegetation are the various kinds of gum trees 
(Eucalyptus), the She-oak (Casnorinia), the Acacia or 
Wattle, the Grass tree (Xanthorrhcea), nlany varieties of the 
Protiaceal, and a great number of ferns and tree ferns. 
Of the gum tree there are found more than 150 species, 
many of which are of great value Specimens of the pep- 
permint (Eucalyptus Amygdalina) have been found to 
measure 480 to 500 feet in height. As timber trees the 
most valuable members of this genus are the Eucalyptus 
Rostrata, Eucalyptus Lencoxylon, and Eucalyptus Margi- 
nator, the timber of which is hard and dense, and almost 
indestructible. A number of the gum trees have a decidu- 
ous bark. The wattle or acaaia includes about 300 species, 
some of them: of considerable economic value, yielding 
good timber and bark for tanning. The most beautiful 
and most useful is the golden wattle which is adorned in 
the spring time with rich masses of fragrant yellow blos- 
soms. There are twenty-four species of palms, and all 
these, except the cocoanut palm, are peculiar to Australia, 
and are confined to the north and east coasts. In the 
‘‘scrubs’’ hosts of densely intertwisted bushes occupy 
extensive areas. The Mallee scrub is formed by a species. 
of dwarf encalyptus, and the Mulga scrub by a species of 
thorny acasia. A plant which covers a large area in the 
arid regions is the Spinifer, or Spiny plant, which renders 
travelling difficult, wounds the feet of horses, and is utterly 
uneatable by any animal. Other large tracts are occupied 
by herbs or bushes of a more valuable kind, as they afford 
fodder. Foremost among these stands the salt bush. 
Beautiful flowering plants are numerous. Australia also 
possesses great numbers of turf forming grasses, such as 
the Kangeroo grass, which survive even a tolerably pro- 
tracted drought. The native fruit trees are few and unim- 
portant, and the same may be said of the plants yielding 
roots used for food ; but exotic fruits and vegetables may 
now be had in the different states of the commonwealth in 
