210 INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN FORAGE PLANTS. 



Mr. S. Dixon states that both the pods and leaves of this plant 

 are eaten by stock. 



25. Castanospermum australe, A. Cunn., B. PI. ii., 275. N.O. 

 Leguminosse. " Moreton Bay Chestnut," " Bean-tree." Called 

 " Bogum " and " Irtalie," by the aboriginals. Found in 

 Northern New South Wales and Queensland. 



Stockowners are destroying this tree owing to the belief that 

 cattle are poisoned through eating the seeds. They are however 

 quite harmless when cooked, and form, in fact, part of the diet of 

 the aborigines. 



The Government Analyst of New South Wales has failed to 

 find an alkaloid or poisonous principle in the seeds, and suggests 

 that they may be injurious on account of their indigestibility. 

 (Report ofD&pt. of Mines, N.S.W., 1886, p. 46). It is however, 

 to be borne in mind, that the LeguminosaB are emphatically a 

 poisonous Natural Order, although they yield some of the most 

 valuable foods of man and beast. 



26. Casuarina stricta, Ait, B. FL, vi.,195. C. quadrivalvis in 



Muell. Cens., p. 22. Syn. : C. quadrivalvis, Labill. ; C. 

 macrocarpa, A. Cunn. ; C. cristata, Miq. ; C. Gunnii, Hook. f. 

 N.O. Casuarinese. " Coast She-oak," " Swamp Oak," " River 

 Oak." "Worgnal" of the aboriginals. Found in all the 

 Colonies except Queensland and Western Australia. 



Mr. S. Dixon states that in Port Lincoln (S.A.), the fallen 

 catkins (male inflorescence), form the chief sustenance in winter 

 on much of the overstocked country. 



The foliage is eagerly browsed upon by stock, and in cases of 

 drought these trees are pollarded for the cattle. Old bullock- 

 drivers say that cattle prefer the foliage of the female plant (i.e. 

 those plants with the fruit-cones) to that of the male. (J. E. 

 Brown.) Casuarina foliage has a pleasant acidulous taste, but it 

 contains a very large proportion of ligneous matter. 



Mr S. Dixon (op. cit.J states that this tree is too sour to be 

 very useful to ewes rearing lambs, but if sheep had only enough 

 of it, the " braek " or tenderness of fibre, would often be prevented 

 in our finer wool districts, and much money saved by the increased 

 value a sound staple always commands. 



27. Casuarina suberosa, Otto, et Bietr., B. FL, vi., 197. Syn. : 



C. leptoclada, Miq. ; C. maista, F.v.M. N. O. Casuarinese. 

 "Erect She-oak," "Forest Oak," "Swamp Oak," "River 

 Black-oak," "Shingle Oak," "Beef -wood." "Dahl-wah"of 

 the aborigines. Found in all the Colonies except South 

 and Western Australia. 



