The Chemistry and the Chemical Exploitation of Western 
Australian Plants. 
91 
(a) Glycosides. 
(i) Cyano genetic Glycosides. 
The group of poison plants on which most work has been done is the 
cyanogenetic group. Such plants are widely distributed geographically and 
they occur in many families. In Australia Petrie and Finnemore have made 
great contributions to our knowledge in this field and much work has been 
done in South Africa and India on plants which are known in Australia- 
Hydrolysing enzymes are absent in a few species while from others the 
cyanogenetic glycosides have been isolated and their identity determined. 
The following have been shown to be cyanogenetic : — Acacia Cunning- 
hamii Hook, (no enzyme), A. Oswaldi F. Muell. ; Amaranthus viridis L. ; 
Asp'&nium flab elli folium Cav. ; Bothriochloa Eivartiana (Domin.) C. E. 
Hubbard, B. intermedia (R. Br.) A. Camus; C ardamine dictyosperma 
Hook.; Clieno podium Blackiamim Aellen, C. carinatum R. Br., C. cristatum 
(F. Muell.) F. Muell.; Chloris truncate R. Br. ; Clirysopogon fallax S. T. 
Blake; Colocasia antiquorum Schott; Cynodon dactyl on (L.) Pers. ; Cyperus 
distans L.f . ; B a ctylocten iu m radulans (R. Br.) Beauv. ; Digitaria sanguinalis 
(L.) Scop.; Dodonaea viscose (L.) Jacq. ; Brosera peltate Sm., / ). gigantea 
Lindl. ; Eremophila maculate F. Muell. (49) and Eucalyptus cladocahjx F!. 
Muell. (50), from both of which Finnemore isolated prunasin ; Euphorbia 
Brummondii Boiss. ; Flagellaria indica L. ; Goodie lotifolia Salisb. (51), 
from which Finnemore isolated a glucoside of p-hydroxybenzaldehyde cyan- 
hydrin; Heterodendron oleaefolium Desf., the leaves of which are always 
cyanogenetic, although Dr. H. W. Bennetts (priv. comm.) does not consider 
the plant toxic in Western Australia; Indigofera australis Willd.; Ipomoea 
dissecta Willd.; Leptochloa digitate (R. Br.) Domin.; Lindsay a linearis 
Swartz ’Linum marginale A. Cunn. ex Planch.; Lolium perenne L. ; Lotus 
australis Andr., from which Finnemore (52) isolated lotaustralin, the 
glucoside of methylethylketone cyanhydrin; Neptunia gracilis Benth. ; 
Passiflora foetida L. ; Fornax umbellate. Soland. ; Poranthera ericoides 
Klotzch, P. microphylla Brougn. ; Schizoloma ensifolium J. Sm. ; Sisymbrium 
orientate L. ; Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers.; S. sudanense (Piper) Stapf. ; 
S. verticilliflorum (Steud.) Stapf.; Themeda australis (R. Br.) Stapf.; 
Trema amboinensis (Willd.) Blume; Trianthema crystalline Vahl. ; Tri folium 
repens L., shown by Finnemore (53) to contain lotaustralin; Vida sativa L. 
The following are suspected of being cyanogenetic from post mortem 
examination but have not so far shown to be so in the laboratory: — 
Euphorbia boophthona C. A. Gardn., E. clutioides (Forst. f.) C. A. Gardn. 
and Olax uliginose (Klotzsch) Klotzsch. 
The additional genera are known to contain cyanogenetic species and 
might repay investigation : — Adenia , Aristide, Danthonia , Halorrhagis, 
J uncus and Sporobolus. 
Finnemore has found no evidence of the production of hydrocyanic 
acid in Acacia aneura F. Muell., A. brachystachya Benth., A. Brummondii 
Lindl., A. Farnesiana, A. Graffiana F- Muell., A,, hakeoides A. Cunn., 
A. ixiophylla Benth., A. pentadenia Lindl., A. rosiellifera Benth., A. salicina 
Lindl., A. saligna Wendl., A . undulifoUa Fraser, A. urophylla Benth.; 
Eremophila longifolia F. Muell., E. bignoniiflora F. Muell.; Bryonopsi s 
laciniosa (L.) Naud. ; Bidiscus glaucif olius F. Muell. and Trifolium dub him 
Sibth. 
