first year It is propagated by cuttings- of the* 



' running roots ' planted in February. ... It will remain 

 green and leafy until frost, and withstands drought very welL. 

 The annual amount of green fodder produced is very large. .. 

 . . . The usefulness of the plant as a source of dry winter 

 fodder is still to be investigated." 



Cola acuminata. — Seeds of this tree were received from Kew„ 

 some of which have germinated, but it is as yet too early to report 

 up»pn their growth. 



" Sand Stay Plants." — These plants which were received from 

 Baron F. v. Mueller, as stated in last year's report, have been handed 

 over to the Borough Engineer for planting on the sand dunes near 

 the Point. 



Agave rigida, var. Sisalana, " Sisal Hemp." — These plants are . 

 perfectly healthy, and young plants have been reared, and could be 

 obtained in much larger quantities if any demand existed for them, 

 but at present no one seems inclined to undertake the cultivation of 

 fibre plants. 



Epipiemnum mirabile, " Tonga." — This plant, which has been 

 successfully used in some cases of neuralgia, grows here luxuriantly; 

 plants have been reared, and will be ready for distribution in the 

 early spring. 



Iris Robinsoniana, " Wedding Flower," Lord Howe's Island. — 

 This plant, which has been for several years in the Gardens, in 

 November last produced a flowering spike, but, unfortunately, the 

 flowers all withered before opening. General Lowther, in a letter to- 

 Mr. R. Jameson, says that it bears large snow-white flowers, with 

 golden spots, and that its leaves yield a valuable fibre. It has only 

 flowered twice in England, viz., at Kew and in the Scilly Islands. He 

 also says that perpetual moisture is the best treatment, and, as our 

 plant is in a very dry place, its failure to produce flowers is accounted 

 for. It will now be removed to a more favourable situation. 



It will be seen that the plants already noticed are exotics which 

 have been introduced into the Colony for trial ; but it is certain that 

 many of our native plants are worthy of more attention than they have 

 hitherto received, and some of these have been alluded to in previous 

 reports as well as in local publications. I have often been applied to 

 with respect to pasture grasses, and have introduced and distributed 

 numerous packets of seed of different species, of which, as a rule, no- 

 more is heard. My own opinion is, and always has been, that we 

 require no better pasture grasses than those we already have, but more 

 care must be taken of them, especially in regard to indiscriminate 

 burning, and, in this opinion, I am confirmed by a paper in the " Kew 

 Bulletin" for November last, from which I propose to make copious 

 extracts, as but few people see this publication, and fewer still know 

 the grasses by the names there given. The list of tropical grasses 

 possessing special merit for fodder purposes has been revised by Sir 

 J. D. Hooker, and comprises 20 species, of which 7 are either 

 indigenous or have been imported into the Colony, and the notes on 

 these species I shall quote at some length, merely enumerating such 

 as have not, to my knowledge, been introduced. 



