107 



Seeds. — The seeds were eaten by blacks, and continue to form part of 'the 

 food of some aborigines to this very day. I need scarcely say that they are 

 astringent, and that they yield only a small proportion of starchy matter. 



Timber. — Excessively hard, dark brown, used by the aborigines for 

 boomerangs, sticks to lii^t edible roots, shafts of spears, nuUa-nullas, and 

 jagged spear-ends (Mueller). It is highly irritating in flesh wounds. It 

 makes excellent fencing posts, and in parts of western New South Wales 

 it is very plentiful, and much appreciated. It is often used for bullock- 

 yokes. 



" In the absence of other timber, JIulga is now one of the principal .trees 

 bui'ut for charcoal near Cobar." (Cambage.) 



Exudation. — The Mulga yields a small quantity of soluble gum, similar 

 in properties to that of good gum-arabic. It would be commercially valuable 

 if it were procurable in quantity. 



Size. — Often a tall shrub or small tree, and rarely more than 25 feet in 

 height. It is often with a stem diameter of 9 to 12 inches. 



Hahitat. — Western Australia, through the other .mainland States to 

 Queensland. It is a native of the drier western parts of New South Wales. 

 Its precise eastern boundaries are not yet defined. 



Localities and collectors of some New South Wales specimen^ in the 

 National Herbarium, Sydney, are : — 



Broken Hill (A. 0. Loder) ; . Paldrumatta Bore and Mount Browne (P. 

 Corbett) ; Mount Hope (J. L. Boorman) ; near Cobar (J. V. d'Apice), both 

 broad and narrow leaf; North Bourke (A. Murphy); Pera Bore (W. W. 

 Froggatt) ; Tarcoon (J. L. Boorman) ; Byrock (H. Deane) ; Coolabah (E. 

 W. Peacock) ; Nyng-an (E. F. Eogers). 



" Up to a height of 25 feet. Wood very hard, and used greatly by natives 

 for weapons, &c. Capable of high polish." — Ivanhoe, via Hay (K. H. 

 Bennett). 



EXPLANATION OP PLATE 99. 

 A. Flowering twig of the broad-leaved form. 

 r B. Spike of flower-buds, 



c. Individual bud. 



D. Flower. 



E. Flower, opened out, showing — (a)- Calyx, (6) Corolla, 



(c) Stamens, (d) Pistil. 

 I". Seed, attached to the pod by a white arlllus. 

 u. Pods. 

 E. Flowering twig of the narrow-leaved form. 



Acacia Cunninghamii, Hook. 



The " B.'isTAKD Myall " or " Kurracabah." 



Botanical Name. — Cunninghamii, in honour of Allan Cunningham, 

 King's Botanist, who arrived in Sydney in the year 1816, and who was the 

 Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, S.ydney (1837-1839). He was an 

 sidmirable botanist and a distinguished explorer, one of his feats being the 

 discovery of the Darling Downs, Queensland. 



Vernacular Name. — ^It is sometimes known as "Bastard Myall," and less 

 frequently as " Black Wattle." 



Aboriginal Names. — At Narrabri, New South Wales, it bears the name of 

 " Kurracabah." I am not certain whether the name is exclusively held by 

 this species.. It is also called by the name " Motherumbah " (of which 



