CycapAcE&@.—-ConrFERz. — 65 
districts, and sometimes used for lawns. In cultivated ground and gardens 
it is an unmitigated pest. The creeping stems grow horizontally when 
exposed to light, but in darkness grow upwards. Hence, even when buried 
one or even two feet deep, they may reach the surface, and there spread 
out again, and any piece of the stem with a knot may start a new growth. 
Good cultivation and frequent stirring, coupled with the aid of leafy fodder 
or root crops, keep it under, and in pastures kept in good heart it does not 
appear to increase unduly. It is essentially a weed of neglect, and is often 
one of the first plants to appear on bare ground. 
Hordeum murinum, L. The Wall Barley. A coarse, tufted grass, in- 
troduced to Victoria from Europe, and now widely spread, and sometimes 
troublesome as a weed on lawns, where it forms unsightly spreading tufts 
with short barley-like heads when flowering. It has been stated to be 
poisonous when growing in pastures, and this might be the case when. it 
was diseased and covered by certain.fungi, but not otherwise. Neverthe- 
less, it is practically useless as a fodder plant, and its bristly heads of 
flowers are obnoxious in fodder, and apt to cause irritation and injury to 
stock. On pasture ground kept pervious “and in good heart, the better fodder 
grasses tend to suppress it. The plant is an annual, and dies down during 
the heat of summer, leaving the ground covered with its obnoxious, stalked, . 
bristly heads of spikelets. Continuous grazing, trampling, over-stocking, 
and neglect favour its spread. The allied Meadow Barley, Hordeum pra- 
tense, Huds., is a taller plant, which favours moist ground, where it is 
usually perennial, and yields a certain amount of fodder while young. It 
is, however, nearly as objectionable as the preceding when in flower. 
KS Sorghum.—This useful fodder plant sometimes causes the death of 
stock. It develops prussic acid, occasionally in sufficient quantity to kill 
stock when the fresh fodder is eaten. The poison is usually developed as 
the result of injury by frost or other causes, and is especially likely to 
appear in young or stunted crops. The poison is volatile, .so that the 
fodder becomes. harmless when dried or fermented in the silo. Prussic 
acid occurs in many other plants also, either free or in the form of com- 
pounds, which, when eaten or fermented, will yield prussic acid (Bitter 
almonds, Pangium edule, Laurel, &c.). 
Gymnosperms. 
CycapacEa®.—Trees or shrubs, the seeds borne on carpellary leaves or 
scales, but not enclosed in an ovary. A small tropical: or semi-tropical 
order, allied to the pines, and sometimes known as the ‘‘Palm Ferns,’’ 
several species of which are grown in Victorian gardens. The fruits and 
seeds of several species are edible, and starch or arrowroot is obtained from 
the stems of some. gs” The seeds of C yeas circinalis, L.. and of Zamia 
muricata, Willd., appear to be distinctly poisonous. 
R=" In New South. Wales and Queensland several species of Macro- 
zamia, and also Cycas media, R. Br., are supposed to produce partial mus- 
cular paralysis in stock (Wobbles), which have become fond of eating them. 
A poisonous resin has been extracted by Dr. Lauterer in Queensland from 
the leaves of Macrozamia, and this produced fatal gastro-enteritis when 
given internally to guinea pigs and cats. Animals fed with the plant showed 
similar symptoms. When small quantities are continually eaten, the 
usual chronic effects gradually ensue, which are grouped together under 
the head of ‘‘Wobbles’’ disease. It is possible that some of the symptoms 
may have some, other accessory origin, or may be due in part at least 
to the indigestible character of the food swallowed. 
ContFer®.—These are all shrubs or trees, none of which can be classed 
as weeds, although some are poisonous. This applies to the leaves and 
