218 
The  Xanthorrhcea  Resms. 
f  Am.  .Tour.  Pharm. 
\      May,  1881. 
leaves,  resembling  grass  leaves ;  hence  the  name  grasstrees,  by  which 
the  species  are  known  in  Australia.  The  leaves  are  used  as  fodder  for 
cattle,  and  the  somewhat  sheathing  base  of  the  inner  leaves  and  the 
buds  are  eatable  and  form,  particularly  when  roasted,  an  agreeable 
article  of  food.  From  the  centre  of  the  leaf  tuft  there  rises  a  long 
cylindrical  scape,  which  terminates  with  a  long  spike  of  small  white 
flowers  situated  in  the  axils  of  the  imbricate  bracts  and  producing  tri- 
angular three-celled  capsules,  containing  flattish,  hard,  black  seeds. 
R.  Brown  (1810)  described  seven  species,  viz. :  X.  arborea,  australis, 
hastilis,  media,  minor,  bracteata  and  pumilio.  The  two  first-named 
species  are  arborescent,  while  the  third  and  fourth  have  short  stems, 
that  of  X.  hastilis  being  about  four  feet  high,  and  is  said  to  sometimes 
attain  a  diameter  of  one  foot  and  then  to  be  probably  more  than  a 
century  old,  owing  to  its  slow  growth.  The  last  three  species  named 
before  are  stem  less,  i.  e.,  the  stems  remain  buried  in  the  soil  or  rise 
scarcely  above  ground. 
All  the  species  abound  in  a  resinous  juice  which,  on  exposure, 
hardens  and  as  obtained  from  the  different  species,  undoubtedly  differs 
in  appearance  and  also  in  composition.  Guibourt  distinguishes  three 
xanthorrhcea  resins — one  yellow,  one  brown  and  one  red.  The  dark- 
colored  resin  is  still  ascribed  by  some  authors  to  X.  hastilis,  but 
Drummond  (1840)  pointed  out  that  an  arborescent  species,  probably 
X.  arborea,  is  in  Australia  called  hhjch  hoy^  and  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  of  Victoria  state  that  X.  australis  (which  is  arborescent)  yields 
a  large  quantity  of  a  brilliant  ruby-colored  resin.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  botanist  Smith  refers  the  yellow  resin  to  X.  hastilis  and  some 
other  species.  The  last  named  is  the  X.  resinosa  of  Persoon,  and  of 
it  Acaroides  resinifera  is  quoted  as  a  synonym  in  Gray's  Supplement. 
The  name  acaroid  resin  is  thus  explained.  The  different  xanthor- 
rhcea resins  have  been  described  more  especially  in  regard  to  their 
uses  in  papers  by  Mr.  Redford  as  a  polishing  material  in  "  Amer. 
Jour.  Phar.,''  1863,  p.  453,  454,  and  by  Mr.  P.  L.  Simmonds,  in  the 
same  journal,  1857,  p.  226  to  228,  and  in  1866,  p.  465  to  468;  the 
papers  last  quoted  refer  chiefly  to  the  use  of  the  resin  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  illuminating  gas.  The  resins  •seem  to  be  obtained  as  natural 
exudations,  the  subterraneous  portions  of  the  plant  producing  them  in 
some  species,  at  least,  apparently  in  great  abundance ;  but  resin  is  also 
found  covering  the  base  of  the  leaves  and  it  is  secreted  in  such  quan- 
tity in  the  woody  stems  that  after  crushing  the  latter  it  may  be  sifted 
