GLOSSARY. 137 



^ETHIOPICUM. (Natural Order, Filices.) P. 209. 

 See chapter 'Australian Vegetation,' p. 80. 



Maize. — See 'Indian Corn,' p. 130. 



Mallee. — EUCALYPTUS. See chapter ' Australian 

 Vegetation,' p. 87. 



Mangrove. — RHTZOPHORA MANGLE. (Natural 

 Order, Rhizophore^e.) P. 17. — This strange tree grows to 

 a height of 40 or 50 feet, principally along the seashores of 

 tropical countries, forming dense forests, commonly called 

 Mangrove swamps. Its roots rise some feet above the 

 ground, supporting the trunk, as it were, upon piles. An 

 allied species (Rhizophora mucronatd) is very plentiful along 

 the coast of Queensland and North Australia. Our Native 

 Mangrove {Avicennia officinalis), however, belongs to a 

 different order, Verbenacece. It is an evergreen shrub, or 

 small tree, growing to a height of from 10 to 20 feet; it is very 

 common along several parts of the coast. It abounds on the 

 shores of Western Port Bay ; is found at the Clarence, Rich- 

 mond, Brunswick, and Tweed Rivers, in New South Wales, 

 and sometimes extends for miles along the creeks and inlets. 



In South Australia it extends from Le Fevre's Peninsula, 

 Torrens Island, along the eastern shore of St. Vincent Gulf 

 to Port Wakefield. The wood is very hard and tough ; it 

 is used for underground purposes and waterworks. Like 

 the true Mangrove, its bark is used in tanning. There is 

 also another kind of Mangrove or pseudo-Mangrove generally 

 found growing in company with Avicennia in New South 

 Wales, and both have been looked upon as valuable for 

 staying and consolidating the mud flats of tidal rivers and 

 estuaries, and preventing the malarial effects of such localities 

 in climates of too low a temperature for the true Mangrove 



