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i Jan., 1902.) QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 47 
Botany. 
A GOOD SHADE TREE. 
Flindersia, so-named by Dr. Robert Brown after the famous Captain N. 
Flinders, belongs to the natural order Meliacee, and is a near ally of the genus: 
which includes our Red Cedar (Cedrela Toona). 
There are fifteen species of the genus indigenous in this State, where most 
-of them are known as possessing timbers of excellent quality and greatly sought 
after by the house, boat, and coach builder, cabinet-maker, &c. 
A distinguishing mark of the genus is the fruit, which is oblong, hard, and 
generally covered with tubercles, and opens in five boat-shaped valves. In most 
of the species these separate when ripe, but in one species, the Crow’s ash, they 
remain adherent at the base, and are often used inthe making of fancy 
pincushions, and for ornaments, &e. 
Two of the best-known species are Crow’s ash (F. australis) or Flindosie, 
as one often hears the timber-getter calling it, and #. Oxleyana, the common 
yellowwood. The timber of the firstnamed is very strong and durable, and is 
a favourite for veranda floors, while the latter is strong, is used for cabinet 
work and buggy shafts, and is adapted for handscrews. Another species, F. 
Chatawaina, named after our late esteemed Minister, is considered one of the 
very best timbers of the North, where it is known under the names of Cardwell 
Maple, Silkwood (Cairns), and Red Beech (Atherton), and used for a great 
variety of purposes. 
The plate here given represents F. pubescens, one of the handsomest species 
of the genus, and is from a photograph, taken by Mr. Mobsby, of a tree growing 
in the Wickham-terrace reserve. Mr. R. McDowell, the superintendent of the 
reserve, thinks a great deal of it as a shade tree, and with good reason, for it is 
one that will be hard to surpass for the purpose. He has planted a number in 
the reserve and other places under his charge, and all are doing remarkably well. 
‘One would hardly credit this tree, which belongs to the tropical parts of the 
State, thriving in the situation where this photo. was taken, as it is very exposed 
to westerly winds, and the soil is exceedingly poor. But the trees could hardly 
look better even in their native habitat, and makes one wonder why more of the 
many handsome trees of our tropical parts are not u ‘ised in our reserves and 
gardens. The seed from which these trees were raised was obtained from 
tropical Queensland by Mr. Walter Hill, late director of the Brisbane Botanic 
Gardens, who was a great enthusiast in the cultivation of our native plants. 
Nothing so far is recorded of the timber of this tree, but no doubt it will 
be found to be good, like others of the genus. 
Two species of our inland plains—viz., F. Sirzeleckiana and F. maculosa— 
would prove pleasant additions to our cultivated ornamental trees. They are 
both small trees, and go by the names of spotted-tree and leopard-tree on 
account of the bark falling off in scale-like pieces and leaving light-coloured 
indented patches upon the stem. 
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