INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN FORAGE PLANTS. 210 



A valuable salt-bush which withstands a very high temperature. 



But Mr. S. Dixon (op. cit.) states that this species is " hateful "' 

 to stock. See K. aphylla. 



62. Lotus australis, Andr., B. Fl., ii., 188. Syn.: L. kevigatus, 



Benth.; L. albidus, Lodcl. N.O. Leguminosre. Found in all 

 the Colonies. 



63. Lotus corniculatus, Linn. N.O. Leguminospe. Found in 

 all the Colonies except Western Australia and Queensland. 



These plants are often reputed poisonous in Australia, which is 

 doubtless a mistake, as they make excellent fodder, and are 

 considered valuable ingredients in meadows and pastures. (Bailey.) 



Doubtless this idea has arisen owing to the poisonous nature of 

 some leguminous bushes similar in leaf and habit. Baroti Mueller 

 however states (Trans. R. S., Victoria, Vol. vi., 1861-4) that this 

 plant causes sheep to perish in some cases, in half-an-hour. 



The most contrary evidence as to the effect of these plants on 

 s^ock is to hand from Western New South Wales. 



" I am inclined to believe that many leguminous plants reputed 

 to be poisonous are not really so, but that an excess of either 

 foliage or seeds eaten by a hungry animal throws off such an 

 abundance of gases, that " hoove," which is nothing more than an 

 excessive distension of the stomach, pressing against the diaphragm, 

 preventing the lungs from working, and the animal is really 

 strangled to death. To this cause I attribute all the deaths (and 

 they are very numerous) caused by Lotus australis var. Behrii, 

 really an excellent fodder plant, akin to the Lucernes, but when 

 seeding, and especially after rain, if hungry sheep are allowed to 

 feed greedily upon it, they die by hundreds, while sheep in 

 confinement and fed solely upon it do not die, but actually thrive 

 as was shown some years since in Adelaide." (S. Dixon, op. cit.) 



64. Malvastrum spicatum, A. Gray, B. FL, i., 187. Syn.: Malva- 



spicata, Linn. ; M. ovata, Cav.; M. timorensis, DC; M. 

 brachystachya, F.v.M. N. O. Malvaceae. Found in South 

 Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. 



Some squatters have considered this a valuable sheep-herb. 

 (Bailey.) This plant is not endemic in Australia. 



65. Marsilea quadrifolia, Linn., B. FL, vii., 683. Syn. : M. 



Brownii, A. Braun ; M. angustifolia, R. Br.; M. hirsuta, R. 

 Br.; M. Drummondii, A. Braun. N.O. Marsiliacese. "Clover 

 Fern." Found in all the Colonies except Tasmania. 



