ofVanDiemen'sLand. 341 



coast, having the mature leaves an inch wide and of a deep green, 

 are eatable and of a nutty flavour. The flowers of this plant, to 

 the eye of a common observer, resemble those of rushes : they 

 grow in clusters on a stem as flat and broad as the leaves. 



The base of the inner leaves of the grass tree (Xanthorrhoe^a 

 arborea) is not to be despised by the hungry. . The abori<nnes 

 beat off the heads of these singular plants by striking them about 

 the top of the trunk with a large stick ; they then strip off the 

 outer leaves and cut away the inner ones, leaving about an inch 

 and a half of the white tender portion joining the trunk ; this 

 portion they eat raw or roasted ; and it is far from disagreeable 

 In flavour, having a nutty taste, slightly balsamic. There are 

 some other species of grass tree in the colony, the base of the 

 leaves of which also may be used as food : those of the dwarf 

 grass tree (Xanthorrhce^a hiimilis), so abundant about York 

 Town, may be obtained by twisting the inner leaves firmly 

 together, and pulling them forcibly upwards ; but care is required 

 not to cut the fingers by slipping the hand. 



The eatable fruits of Van Diemen's Land are not numerous, 

 and none of them are worthy of comparison with the commonest 

 English fruits : they rank in value nearly in the followino? 

 order : — 



(Solanum laciniatum, the kangaroo apple, resembling the 

 apple of a potato. When so ripe as to split, it has a mealy 

 subacid taste. 



Mesembryanthemum sequilaterale, pigfaces, called by the 

 aborigines by the more elegant name of canagong. The pulp 

 of the almost shapeless, but somewhat obconical, fleshy seed- 

 vessel of this plant, is sweetish and saline : it is about an inch 

 and a half long, of a yellowish, reddish, or green colour. 



Polygonum adpressum, the Macquarie Harbour vine, either 

 as an insignificant trailing plant, or as a magnificent climber, 

 according to soil and situation, is found on the coast of various 

 parts of Van Diemen's Land, and also as far inland as within 

 about four miles of New Norfolk. This plant has a small but 

 sweet fruit, formed of the thickened divisions of the calyx, en- 

 closing a triangular seed of unpleasant flavour. [See Vol. VIIL 

 p. 347.] 



Gaultherm hispida, the wax-cluster, abundant in the middle 

 region of Mount Wellington, and in other elevated and moist 

 situations in the colony. This fruit is formed by the thickened 

 divisions of the calyx, enclosing the small seed-vessel : when it is 

 ripe it is of a snowy white. The flavour is difficult to describe, 

 but it is not unpleasant. In tarts the taste is something like that 

 of young gooseberries, with a slight degree of bitterness. 



Astrol6ma humifiisum, the native cranberry, has a fruit of a 

 green, reddish, or whitish colour, about the size of a black cur- 

 rant, consisting of a viscid apple-flavoured pulp, enclosing a large 



