•386 BOTANY OF NORTH-EASTERN NEW SOUTH WALES, 



is not uncommon on the coast from the Hastings to the Tweed 

 River. It is arborescent, attaining sometimes a height of from 

 twenty-five to thirty feet. Its large, almost globular heads of 

 drupes are popularly called " Bread-fruit," because the aborigines 

 used to eat the seeds. At the Botanic Gardens, Brisbane, 

 Queensland, I prepared some good fibre from the aerial roots of 

 this species. The Aroidece, which include some rather ornamental 

 plants, usually found in, or on the borders of dense brushes, are 

 not numerous as regards species. The stout stems of Colocasia 

 macrorrhiza Schott, although containing an acrid poison, were, 

 after preparation, used by the aborigines as an article of food. 

 Its leaves, sometimes three feet long, and eighteen inches broad, 

 make the plant conspicuous. Pothos loureiri Hook, et Am., is a 

 large climbing plant, often clothing the trunks of trees with its 

 stems and exceedingly variable leaves, which have singular 

 phyllodineous petioles. Its red, oblong or ovoid berries, about 

 half-an-inch long, have a pretty effect. Species of Naiadece are 

 rather numerous in or near water, and although of no great 

 beauty from a horticultural point of view, they are of interest 

 to the botanist. The few species of Alismacecs, which are widely 

 distributed, are aquatic or marsh plants with flowers disposed in 

 terminal panicles or spikes. 



CyperacecB are well represented by numerous genera and species, 

 occurring on high and low land and on all classes of soil from the 

 littoral sands to the tops of the highest ranges. Many 

 species grow in marshy country, and some are aquatic. When in 

 flower or fruit the majority have a decidedly ornamental appear- 

 ance. Several species have flexible stems which are put to 

 various uses by settlers. Amongst the tallest plants of this 

 Order are the species of Lepidosperma, Cladium and Gahnia, 

 some attaining a height of from six to nine or more feet, and 

 growing in dense masses. Gahnia melanocarpa R. Br., has 

 panicles more than one foot long, and produces numerous spikelets 

 and nearly ovoid, shiny black fruits. The panicles of G. psitta- 

 corum Labill., are often two or more feet long and very black. 

 Its ripe fruits are ovoid, shiny, and of a bright red colour. In 



