106 AUSTRALIAN BOTANY. 



plants, and burying them in deep pits or water holes, as the 

 succulent stems and branches, if merely cut down, will 

 retain life, and make roots and fresh growth. 



Caladium. — (Natural Order, Aroide^e.) Pp. 30, 35. — 

 This beautiful genus is largely cultivated in gardens and 

 hothouses, principally for the rich colouring of the leafage, 

 which is of a heart-shaped or arrow-headed form. The 

 Caladiums are natives of most warm countries, and 

 notwithstanding their acrid and poisonous qualities, some 

 kinds are used as food by the Polynesians and other 

 islanders. Taro, a principal article of food amongst the 

 natives of the South Sea Islands, is made from the root- 

 stocks (rhizomes) of Caladium (Colocasid) esculentum, and 

 Caladium macrorhizum. Both of these plants are semi- 

 aquatic, and are largely cultivated by the natives, who 

 plant the roots on the banks of running streams, where 

 they are generally left for a period ranging from nine to 

 fifteen months, until the root-stocks have become large. 

 The process of cooking removes their pungent acridity, and 

 renders them as agreeable to the accustomed palate as good 

 bread. They are then baked in native ovens by the 

 islanders, in the same manner as the bread-fruit, and beaten 

 into a doughy mass called ' Poe,' of which the natives 

 consume enormous quantities. The missionaries generally 

 boil the roots for their own use. 



Camellia. — (Natural Order, Ternstrcemiace^e). P. 28. 

 — These exquisitely beautiful plants, indigenous to China, 

 Japan, Borneo, and the Himalayas, are now almost 

 universally cultivated. The Tea plant (Camellia Bohea, 

 synonym Thea chinensis) belongs to this genus. Numerous 

 double-flowered varieties have been, and are, continually 



