66 
fencing-act has passed the legislature, and 
settlers are enabled to divide their farms 
into moderately-sized enclosures, so as to 
leave the shepherd, instead of constantly 
following his sheep and watching that they 
neither stray nor are stolen, more at liberty 
to devote his attention to the personal 
comfort of his charge, and to cut and clear 
incumbrances away and eradicate noxious 
weeds, the art of sheep-grazing and wool- 
growing in Van Diemen's Land will not be 
brought to perfection. 
plant is derived from akina, a thorn, in 
allusion to the seeds only. 
" Altingia Cunninghami? Cunningham's 
Pine. The beautiful trees of the Pine 
"i - Pr EA | 2 SÉ. ME TIS 1343 
ESCULENT PLANTS OF 
tri 
at the Falls of the River Meander, and also 
by Mr. J. W. Scott, the collector, on the 
banks of the Hucon, probably belong to 
this species. It grows about thirty feet 
high, and is named after Mr. Cunningham, 
late the King's Colonial Botanist, at Syd- 
ney. The Norfolk-Island species ( Altin- 
gia excelsa) attains, in its native soil, a 
height of one hundred feet, and thrives 
well when introduced to Van Diemen's 
Land. A fine one, planted about ten years 
ago, in the government gardens, promises 
to bear cones this season. 
Arundo Phragmites, Common Reed. 
Apparently the same as the European 
species. It grows in the lagoons and 
marshy places plentifully, and is very use- 
ful for thatching ; also, when tied together 
in mats, for screens or covers in kitchen 
gardens. The panicles will dye wool green, 
and the root is said to be useful in liver 
complaints. 
Aster argophyllus,! Musk-Tree. This 
beautiful shrub, peculiar to Van Diemen’s 
Land, is already common in the gardens 
and shrubberies about Hobart-Town, to 
which it is a great ornament. The light- 
green oval leaves are highly odoriferous on 
a warm day: they are slightly toothed at 
the edge, silky beneath, and when young, 
covered thickly on the surface with a fine 
|... powder, which may be rubbed off with the 
The name of this . 
3 ! Botanical Magazine, tab. 1563. Long cultivated i 
. hn the green-houses of this country. 
VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. 
finger. Its blossoms are white, and the 
shrub grows generally to ten or fifteen feet, 
in moist forests even attaining fifty feet. 
Atriplex Halimus. Barilla, or Bota 
Bay Greens. This is the plant so com- 
mon on the shores of Cape Barren and. 
other islands of the Straits, from which the 
alkaline salt is obtained and brought in 
boats to the soap manufactory at Hoba 
Town. It has been considered identical 
with the species that grows on the coast o 
Spain and other parts of Europe. It ri 
to the height of several feet, and its lig 
coloured silvery foliage forms an agreea 
object in shrubberies, when mingled and 
contrasted with the darker hues of 
tringy Bark and other native plants. 
Banksia australis. The common 
neysuckle-Tree of Van Diemen’s Land. 
The genus Banksia, of which there 
thirty-five species already known, 
named by the younger Linneus after the 
late Sir Joseph Banks, President of 
Royal Society, and the species are all a 
suckle is derived from the large quanti 
of sweet juice or syrup in the cells of 
ovary. It is often used as a break or 
drag by the settlers for harrowing in g 
or small seeds, and by the bakers for hea 
ing their ovens. The young shoots of t 
branches have a singular appearance, tro 
their brown colour, and downy, or, bo 
cally speaking, tomentose nature, kind 
designed by Providence, like the soft h 
on newly-fledged birds, to protect the y 
unformed and tender parts from the col 
Betula antarctica, Australian Myr 
A beautiful dark green-leaved 
growing in many parts of the island, 
forming the great Myrtle-Forest, tw 
miles long, in Emu Bay. It is foun 
! Botanical Register, 787. 
Flore Nove Hollandie, and 
plement to that work,— Ep, 
