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INDIGENOUS VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF THE COLONY OF 



VICTORIA. 



BY DR FREDK. MUELLER, P.R.S., GOVERNMENT BOTANIST. 



Gums, Resins, and Dyes.— The gum of the " wattle " acacia is princi- 

 pally obtained from Acacia mollissima,A. dealbata, and A. pycnantlia; these 

 being not only more universally diffused over the colony than most other 

 arborescent species, but also more prolific in their yield of gum. This 

 gum, although generally less transparent and pale than the genuine gum 

 arabic and of less solubility, is nevertheless very valuable for gluing pur- 

 poses, cotton-printing, &c, having the advantage over the Arabian, Nubian, 

 and Senegal acacia gum, in being less brittle after application. In trans- 

 parency and solubility it is surpassed by the gum of Pittosporum acacioides 

 and other Pittosporums, none, however, being sufficiently gregarious to render 

 their products readily obtainable. 



The sandarac resin can be rather abundantly gathered from the 

 Callitris verrucosa (Frenela crassivalvis, Miq.), a pine which is not unfre- 

 quent along the sandy tracts of the Murray, and is scattered also 

 sparingly through the interior, extending westward and northward to 

 Shark's Bay and Arnhem's Land. The similarity of its exudation with 

 that of the Mediterranean sandarac pine is evident. 



From the balsamic resin of the grass-tree (XantJiorrhceas), in many 

 aspects akin to benzoin, a fragrant spirituous varnish can be prepared. 

 The resin has been used for fumigation and in the preparation of sealing- 

 wax. It has also been employed as a Nankin dye for calico. Investigations 

 seem hitherto not to have pointed out any important dye-plants indigenous 

 in Victoria, although it may be presumed that some of our various woods 

 and herbs may yield such ; and, indeed, the berries of Hymenanthera have 

 already been found to furnish a lasting violet pigment. 



Fibres. — The Victorian and South Australian stringy-bark tree claims 

 particularly our attention amongst those indigenous plants yielding fibres. 

 The thick fibrous bark, employed by settlers whenever obtainable as their 

 first roof, is devoid of tenacity, but may, as experiments have shown, be 

 employed for the manufacture of a rough kind of paper, although of 

 brittle texture. 



The bark of Sida pulcliella, and of various Pimeleas, and of Brachychiton, 

 affords to the natives the means of making cordage ; but none of these 

 fibres can be compared in yield to those which European culture has now 

 made universally available. 



Medicinal Plants. — For investigations into the medicinal properties 

 of plants, a wide field is evidently still open. What we have hitherto 

 learned in this direction has been principally through the guidance of sys- 

 tematic botany, which, whilst it reveals the structural affinities of plants in 

 a comprehensive view, points also generally to the close similarity of their 

 properties. Thus, we learn that, for the European gentianeous plants, 



