2^ SELECT PLANTS READILY ELIGIBLE 



Taraxacum officinale, Weber. 



Dispersed over most of tlie temperate and cold parts of the 

 globe, but apparently not a native of this part of Australia. 

 This well-known plant is mentioned, as it can be brought 

 under regular cultivation to obtain the medicinal extract from 

 its roots. It is also considered wholesome to pasture-animals. 

 The young leaves furnish a medicinal salad. 



Tarchonanthus camphoratus, Linne. 



South Africa. This bush deserves attention, being of medi- 

 cinal value. As an odorous garden-plant it is also veiy 

 acceptable. 



Taxodium distichum, Richard.* 



Vii'ginian Swamp- or Bald-Cypress. In swampy places of 

 North America. A large and valuable tree, one hundi'ed 

 feet high, Avith a stem cii'cumference of sometimes forty feet ; 

 of rapid growth, with deciduous foliage like that of the larch 

 and ginkgo. It is found fossil in the miocene formation of 

 many parts of Europe. The wood is fine-gi'ained, hard and 

 durable ; it yields an essential oil and a superior kind of tur- 

 pentine. Useful for avenues on swampy margins of lakes or 

 river-banks. Porcher says : This tree, lifting its giant form 

 above the others, gives a striking featm-e to many of the 

 swamps of Carolina and Georgia; they seem like watch- 

 towers for the feathered race. 



Taxodium mucronatum, Teno. 



The famed Montezuma-Cypress of Mexico, 120 feet high, 

 with a trunk 44 feet in cii'cumference ; it forms extensive 

 forests between Chapultepec and Tescuco. 



Taxus baccata, Linne. 



Yew. Middle and South Europe and Asia, at 1000 to 10,000 

 feet elevation. Generally a shrub, sometimes a tree one 

 hundred feet high, which furnishes a yellow or brown wood, 

 exceedingly tough, elastic and durable, and much esteemed by 

 turners ; one of the best of all woods for bows. The tree is 

 of very slow growth, and attains a great age, perhaps several 

 thousand years ; some ancient ones are kno^Ti with a stem of 

 fifty feet in girth. It should be kept out of the reach of 

 pasture-animals, as leaves and fruit are deadly poisonous. 



Taxus brevifolia, Nuttall. (T. Lindleyana, Lawson.) 



North- West America. Western Yew. A stately tree, 

 seventy-five high, with a stem of five feet in circumference. 

 Wood beautifully white or slightly yeUow, as fine and close- 

 grained as the European Yew. The Indians use it for their 

 bows. 



