GLOSSARY. 175 



tree, its broad leaves affording a pleasant shade. Its timber 

 is valued for many purposes. 



Syzygium. — (Natural Order, Myrtace^e.) See chapter 

 'Australian Vegetation,' p. 91. 



Tasmanian Tea Bush. — LEPTOSPERMUM SCO- 

 PARIUM. (Natural Order, Myrtace.e.) P. 199. See 

 also chapter 'Australian Vegetation,' p. 79. 



Thistle.— CARDUUS. (Natural Order, Composite.) 

 Pp. 29, 54, 200. — A very numerous family, some kinds of 

 which have, since their introduction into Australia, proved 

 great pests to our farmers; so much so, indeed, that legislation 

 has been found necessary to provide for their periodical de- 

 struction. It is most difficult — in fact, practically impossible 

 — to eradicate them when they have once gained a hold on 

 a district, their downy seeds being carried by the wind to 

 all quarters. Since the last great drought in New South 

 Wales, many settlers have come to the conclusion that 

 some of the varieties are valuable fodder plants as a ' stand 

 by ' in starvation times. In South Australia the encroach- 

 ment of this plant was so much dreaded that a law was 

 enacted with a view to its extermination ; but experience 

 has shown that it is more worthy of protection than of 

 destruction, and the law, although not repealed, is not 

 enforced. The proper period for destroying thistles is just 

 before the seed commences to mature. The Spear Thistle 

 (Carduus lanceolatus) is the plant generally supposed to be 

 the emblem of Scotland. Bushmen in Australia frequently 

 use the thistle as a vegetable and antiscorbutic. 



