303 
No. 259. 
Duboisia Hopwoodii F.v.M. 
The Pituri. 
(Family SOLANACE^E.) 
Botanical description. Genus Duboisia R. Br., see p. 295. 
Botanical description. Species Hopwoodii F.v.M., in Fragm. ii, 138 (1861). 
A glabrous tree or shrub. Leaves narrow-linear, acutely acuminate, with the point often recurved, 
entire, rather thick, narrowed into a short petiole, 2 to 4 inches long. Flowers in short terminal cymes 
or leafy pyramidal panicles. Bracts minute. Calyx small, broadly campanulatc, with obtuse teeth. 
Corolla-tube campanulate. 3 to 3| lines long; lobes broad, very obtuse, shorter than the tube. Anthers 
one-celled. Fruit unknown. (B. Fl. iv, 480.) 
Botanical Name. Duboisia, already explained (see p. 295); Hopivoodii, in 
honour of H. Hopwood, of Echuca, Victoria, a liberal supporter of the Victorian 
expedition in search of Burke and Wills (Fragm. ii, 139). 
Vernacular Name. " Pituri, spelt also "Pitchiri," "Pitchery," "Pedgery," 
" Bedgery," &c. It is of aboriginal origin. " Moda " of the Kalkadun aborigines, 
" Tarcmbola " of those of Boulia (Roth). 
Pituri as Poisonous to Stock. The following is an extract from a letter 
to me, dated 10th June, 1901, by the late Mr. R. Helms, who was botanist to the Elder 
Expedition, and who had much experience with this plant in Western Australia : 
"Glancing through your list of 'Poison Plants of Australia' in the Agricultural Gazette for this month, 
I notice the omission of Duboisia Hopwoodii. It is certainly poisonous to camels, and, therefore, probably 
also to other animals. Camels rarely feed on the ground, and where Nicotiana suaveolens grew to a height 
of 4 to 6 feet, as at the Everard and Blyth Ranges, these animals eschewed this plant. I cannot, therefore, 
believe that they should have picked the scantily occurring dwarf specimens later on, when several severe 
cases of illness occurred amongst the caravan. However, young succulent shrubs of D. Hopwoodii, wheiievet 
these almost disastrous events occurred, were always met with. For these reasons I attributed the severe 
attacks of several camels occurring within a few weeks to D. Hopwoodii, and I am convinced that a very 
small quantity is sufficient to bring about serious results. None of the camels I observed died, but they 
staggered for several days, after recovering from the severe paroxysms, and were useless for upwards of a 
week." 
Timber. Wood very light, close-grained, of a lemoil colour, and when freshly 
cut has a decided smell of vanilla. (Sylvester Browne.) 
