342 THE FLORA OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY. 



(resembling small castor-oil seeds somewhat), and with excessively hard and 

 very thick coats." 



I am satisfied that they do not answer to the main description of A. 

 cibaria seed, although they gave the name to the species. I could now say if 

 necessary, with great probability of correctness, the Shark's Bay species that 

 yielded the large, edible seeds. 



Tate in Proc. Roy. Soc, S. A., v., 85 (1882), says that " this species includes 

 A. aneura, var. stenocarpa. He adds that it may be identical with A. hrachy- 

 stachya, Benth., inasmuch as flowering specimens of A. aneura and A. brachy- 

 stachya cannot readily be distinguished, and both species occur jn the same 

 region ; the length of the spike is variable. Under these circumstances it seems 

 advisable to aboUsh the latter specific name." 



Ewart and White {Proc. Roy. Soc, Vict., xxii., 92), state that " . 

 A. cibaria, F. v. M., appears close to A. brachysfachya, and was in fact marked 

 by Mueller, ' Porsan A. brachystachya.' " 



I find that the original description of A. cibaria is so httle known, and it is 

 so important, that I quote it here, with comments in brackets. 



" Branohlets not angular, slightly silky ; phyllodes rather long, thick, rigid, broadly 

 linear, very finely many-nerved, of greyish hue, curved apiculated ; stipules and gland 

 obliterated." (Applies to both A. ramulosa &nd A. brachystachya). 



" Spikes axillary, solidary, short-stalked, not elongated ; flowers slightly short-hairy, 

 bracts rhomboid towards the summiit, very thin towards the base, surpassed in length by the 

 flowers ; sepals narrow, free, hardly half as long as the unstreaked corolla ; " (A. brachy- 

 stachya) " pods straight, cylindrical, longitudinally streaked, seeds placed likewise, oblong, 

 their two areoles minute ; strophiole very short, cupular, occupying only the basal portion 

 of the seed ; funicle closely twisted beneath the strophiole." ( A. ramulosa). 



" Between the Darling River and Barcoo, Dr. Beckler" ( A. brachystachya). 



" Near the Murchison River, Ch. Gray, near the Gascoyne River, Oliver Jones." 

 ( A. ramulosa). 



" A tall shrub or small tree allied to A. aneura in foliage, but very different as regajd.s 

 fruit." { A. ramulosa and A. brachystachya). 



" The aborigines use the seeds very largely for food, wherever this species occurs." 

 {A. sp.). 



" The fruits from near Shark Bay are much larger and the seeds brownish, not black. 

 It is the ' Wonuy' of the natives." { Acacia sp , whose identity can only be guessed at). 



So that the description of A. cibaria is a mixture of A. ramulosa, A. 

 brachystachya &nd A.sp. It had better be dropped. 



For a figure and full account of A. brachystachya, Benth., see Part LXI. of 

 my " Forest Flora of New South Wales." 



2. A. stereophylla, Diets and Pritzel non Meissn. In Engler'S Bot. 

 Jahrb., xxxv., 307 (1905) Diels and Pritzel quote what they call A. stereophylla, 

 Meissn., and add A. cibaria as a synonym. Following is a translation of their 

 remarks, and although I have not seen the specimen described in the first 

 paragraph, it is evident to me that it is A. ramulosa, W V.F. 



' ' To the description is added : — Up to 3 m. high, phyllodes glaucous-cinereous, legumes 

 afterwards pendulous, thick, more or less smooth, coriaceous but scarcely woody, dis- 

 tinctly longitudinally striate (the younger ones sometimes shortly cinereous-pubescent), 

 narrowed slightly between the seeds, seeds longitudinal, thick but hardly twice as long as 

 broad, concave in the middle of both sides. 



" In the Austin district near Menzies, in open shrubby places in sandy-muddy soil, in. 

 fruit (m. Oct. D. 5123), near Carnarvon at the mouth of the Gascoyne River, in sandy soil, 

 in fruit m. Aug. (D. 3724). A,lso in the Berlin Herb, there is an undetermined specimen 

 collected at Shark's Bay in 1830 by Gaudichaud, which agrees entirely in fruit and flowers 

 with preceding specimens. 



" With these specimens collected by us, and with the originals of A. cibaria, F. v. M., 

 in the Melbourne herbarium agreeing entirely with every description of A. stereophylla, 

 MriFFiv., wr thin I: .'1 . ribaria ourrht to be suppressed. 



