Page:Handbook of Western Australia.djvu/72

58 The timber trees of West Australia have less development of leaf than those of most other countries, and do not consequently afford the same amount of shade, or beauty of outline, but some of the larger, especially the Karri, Red Gum, and Peppermint, are very ornamental; and the Jam trees, when scattered over pastures, are not only extremely pleasing to the eye, but afford grateful shade.

The Black Boy, Grass trees, and Zamia are characteristic of the vegetation of West Australia; they are indigenous and connect the present flora with that of the carboniferous geological period, and may be described as built up of the successive vegetation of every year. The Black Boy, so named from its appearance, has the thicker and shorter stem with tuft-like rushes on the crown; the Grass tree is taller, thinner, and the tuft more grass-like. The Zamia is like a gigantic pine apple, with a crown of fronds like a palm tree. The Black Boy and Grass tree yield oils of carbon; and their crowns, which are composed of long rush-like grass, are used for thatching. Black Boy gum may be used with advantage for the same purposes as pitch, and will protect wood from the attack of the sea worm. Arrowroot can be made from the Zamia. Banksias and Wattles are also characteristic of Australian vegetation. West Australia does not possess native fruits of any importance, but there are some roots used by the natives for food which might prove worthy of cultivation if those introduced from Europe did not supersede them.

There are, however, plants which must be noted as more or less dangerous or fatal to sheep, cattle, horses, &c., eating them, and which are commonly known as