Botany. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FLORA OF QUEENSLAND. BY F. MANSON BAILEY, F.L.S., Colonial Botanist. Order PROTEACEÆ. GREVILLEA, R. Br. SECTION PLAGIOPODA. G. Helmsiæ, Bail. (n. sp.) Plates LXXXIX. and XC. (After Mrs. R. Helms.) A small tree with a somewhat rough bark; branches nearly terete, more or less clothed with a thin grey tomentum, the young growth almost strigose. Leaves narrow-lanceolate or elongate-spathulate, 3 to 7 in. long, seldom exceeding -in. broad, tapering at the base, but scarcely forming a distinct petiole, of a greyish colour; the upper side glossy, silky-hairy when young, minutely punctate, underside pale from a thin scurfiness; primary lateral nerves numerous, erecto-patent, the lowermost ones sometimes looping within the margin; margins entire or sometimes the longer leaves showing a few distant indentations in the upper portion, apex ending in a small dark gland (leaves on adventitious shoots from the trunk longer and narrower than the others). Racemes near the ends of the branchlets, almost sessile, seldom much exceeding 1 in.; flowers very dense, of a spicy fragrance. Pedicels slender, about 3 lines long, silky-hairy as well as the rhachis. Perianth long as the pedicel, silky-hairy outside, the inside with long white hairs, except at the base, where the tube is glabrous; opening to near the base, and very revolute. Gland semi-annular. Ovary on a stipes of about 1 line, which is glabrous, as well as the ovary and style; the latter much curved, about 7 lines long. Stigmatic disk oblique, oval, convex. Fruit ovate-oblong, mucronate from the persistent base of the style, nearly 1 in. long, 4-in. broad, valves woody. Seeds 2, greyishbrown, surrounded by a narrow wing, about 10 lines long, 5 lines broad, including the wing. Hab.: Childers, Mrs. R. Helms, who also furnished drawings from which the plates have been produced. EXPLANATION OF PLATES. LXXXIX.-Flowering branch (nat. size). XC.-Fig. 1. Flower; (a), bud; (b), half-open; (c), open (all nat. size). Fig. 2. Longitudinal section of flower (enlarged). Fig. 3. Stigma; (a), side view; (b), front view (both enlarged). Fig. 6. Ripe fruit (nat. size). Fig. 7. Seed (nat, size), Economic Botany. JOB'S TEARS (COIX-LACHRYMA-JOBI)—A USEFUL FODDER. BY F. MANSON BAILEY, F.L.S., Colonial Botanist. DURING Lord Lamington's tour round New Guinea in May last, at almost all the places visited was seen a luxuriant growth of the grass known as Job's Tears (Coix Lachryma-Jobi of the botanist). The growth of the plant and the beauty of its seeds made such an impression on Lord Lamington that he requested me to take seeds of each to Queensland for cultivation, which I did; and the accompanying plate illustrates the product of a single seed sown in my garden at Spring Hill, in by no means favourable soil or situation for foddergrowing. The plant represented comprised 26 stems from 2 to 4 feet high, leafy throughout their whole length-in fact, it is a model fodder plant, suiting the climate both North and South of the colony, and from this point of view is now brought to the notice of dairymen and farmers generally. The present form seems to be of a more succulent character than that generally found in garden culture. The two kinds met with in New Guinea differed considerably in the form of the seed--the one being tear-shaped, and the other linear or oblong; both are usually of a bluish-grey colour. The stems of each, from a single plant, are numerous and very leafy. So far as I have been able to judge, the longseeded form is of smaller growth, but my seeds of this were sown later than those of the other. I may remark that I have had specimens of this grass sent to me for determination from different parts of Queensland by persons who have met with it in a naturalised state, but whether these belonged to the New Guinea forms or not I cannot say. One advantage possessed by this plant over sorghum is that it does not make so strong a root, so that when necessary to plough out to renovate the plantation it will not form so strong a resistance to the work as the varieties of sorghum. The stems are also more slender and not so coarse. In sowing the seeds, place them about 1 foot apart in rows 2 or 3 feet asunder, during the months of September and October. The plants being perennial they will last for several years without renewing. The plant may also be increased by divisions of the stool, which allows of vacancies in the plantation being filled up. Job's Tears" for orna The natives of New Guinea seem only to use mentation purposes, the pretty bluish-grey seeds being prized for making into necklaces and decorating their weapons, &c. I could not hear of the seeds being used for food by them, yet Sir J. D. Hooker tells us that the plant is cultivated in India for this purpose; therefore in all probability the seed of the two New Guinea forms may be put to the same use in some parts of the island. Duthie states that in Oudh (India) the plant is largely eaten by cattle, and is said to be very fattening. |