VO I,. XXXVI. No. 81.1 
WHOLE No. 1458. I 
NEW YORK CITY. DEC. I. 1877. 
PRICE SIX CENTS. 
18.30 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Coubtcss, in the year 1877, by the Rural Publishing Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
AUSTRALIAN VEGETATION. 
Remarkably compact in form, with an average 
length, from east to west of 1,800 miles and a 
breadth, from north to sonth, of 1,700. Australia 
contains an area only one- 
sixth less than that of Eu¬ 
rope, A marvelous land it 
is, marvelous in its insu¬ 
lar extent, the minoral 
wealth it has yielded to the 
world, the rapidity with 
which large tracts along its 
coast have been colonized, 
mainly from the packed pop¬ 
ulation of the British Isles, 
and especially marvelous on 
account of the variety and 
anomalies of its peculiar 
vegetation. It is said that 
nine-tenths of the 8,000 
species of plants found on 
the island are unknow n else¬ 
where, and are entirely un¬ 
connected with the forms of 
vegetation In any other di¬ 
vision of the world. The 
great majority of these be¬ 
long to two genera, the Eu¬ 
calypti and Acacias. Of the 
former upwards of one hun¬ 
dred varieties are spread 
over the whole island. They 
are popularly known by the 
name of gum trees, and 
are commonly classed as the 
red, white and blue gums. 
Many of them attain the 
Might of two hundred feet, 
with a girth at tho base of 
from thirty to forty feet, 
while iu tho primeval forests 
some have been found 
eighty feet in circumference. 
Of them, many varieties 
shed their bark in winter 
while their leaves, the edges 
of which, instead of sides, 
are turned towards the 
ground, remain perennial. 
Of the Acacias, also, thero 
are upwards of one hundred 
species distributed every¬ 
where throughout the coun¬ 
try. These range from 
mere shrubs to large trees, 
and while some of them are 
entirely flowerless, others 
delight the eye with their 
wealth of odoriferous blos¬ 
soms. Among the disagree¬ 
able curiosities of Austra¬ 
lian flora is the Stench plant 
—Hydroootyle densiflora— 
which loads the sorrounding 
air with an odor more re- 
pellant than that of most 
offensive night soil. An¬ 
other is the Nettle-tree, the 
intensity of whose poison is 
so viruleut that the man 
or beast that accidentally 
comes in contact with it, is 
struck as if by paralysis, and 
unless a remedy is speed¬ 
ily applied, death inevitably 
ensues. Fortunately the 
Arum plant is generally 
close at hand, and its benef¬ 
icent juico, rubbed on the 
wound, is a certain antidote 
to the poison. Pines are 
met with only on the east¬ 
ern coast, and of them two 
varieties known by the 
names of Moreton Bay and Bunya Bunya, grow to 
the bight of one hundred and fifty feet, and 
from the excellence of their timber are among 
the most valuable trees on the island. Ros e . 
wood, sandal-wood, satin-wood, and cedar add 
to the beauty of forest scenery, while Yarra 
trees are so invariably found along the rivers in 
the interior, that their course may by this means 
be traced across tho arid plains to the verge of the 
visible horrizon. The leaves of the Tea-tree are 
used by tho colonists instead of the Chinese pro¬ 
duct, whilo tho Sassafras and Castor-oil trees 
yield medicinal treasures. 
Ferns, lilies, nettles, hon- 
oy-suokles, tulips and oven 
grasses, in this strange land, 
have the form, hulk and 
habits of trees, while the 
flowers, though numerous 
and brilliant, bavo, gener¬ 
ally, little or no fragrance. 
The native grasses are 
highly nutritious, but grow 
in clumps, so that continu¬ 
ous sward,like our meadows, 
is only found in thoso dis¬ 
tricts iu which tho settlers 
have sown Imported grasses. 
There is an unparulleled de¬ 
ficiency among the native 
vegetation iu fruits and veg¬ 
etables fit for human food, 
and all form of cereals were 
entirely absent until intro¬ 
duced by the colonists. 
Since their introduction, 
however, they flourish with 
unsurpassed productiveness, 
and in the southern part of 
tho island sixty-four pounds 
to tho bushel has been pro¬ 
duced iu Australian wheat. 
Cotton, sugar, coffee, tobac¬ 
co, bananas, oranges and 
lemons have all been lately 
naturalized in different 
parts of the country, and 
apples, pears, plums, al¬ 
monds, figs, apricots,grapes, 
quinces and melons arc now 
produced iu great abund¬ 
ance. Indeeed the climate 
is remarkably favorable to 
the growth of plants of all 
kinds imported from any 
part of the world. 
With one or two excep¬ 
tions all the indigenous Irees 
of Australia are evergreen, 
and as a rule, vegetation 
owes its origin to a flood, 
and instead of living its 
natural term, and dying by 
natural decay, it is periodi¬ 
cally destroyed by drought. 
It is a peculiarity of the 
climate that seasons of ex¬ 
treme dryness, during which 
not a shower refreshes the 
arid earth, occur at regular 
intervals of twelve years. 
These visitations are de¬ 
structive to all trees and 
shrubs that require even a 
moderate amount of mois¬ 
ture to insure their growth. 
The following year is always 
marked by a heavy rainfall, 
filling the dry channels of 
water-courses with raging 
torrents, and flooding vast 
tracts of country. A fresh 
growth of luxurious vegeta¬ 
tion at once starts, and flour¬ 
ishes vigorously for the next 
period of twelve years, du¬ 
ring which the amount of 
rainfall annually diminishes 
until the year of excessive 
drought ouce more recurs, 
parching tho earth, drying 
up the streams, and destroy¬ 
ing most of the vegetation. 
