Austral English Part 48

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 127:

"Called `caustic-creeper' in Queensland. Called `milk-plant'

and `pox-plant' about Bourke. This weed is unquestionably poisonous to sheep, and has recently (Oct. 1887) been reported as having been fatal to a flock near Bourke, New South Wales... . When eaten by sheep in the early morning, before the heat of the sun has dried it up, it is almost certain to be fatal. Its effect on sheep is curious. The head swells to an enormous extent, becoming so heavy that the animal cannot support it, and therefore drags it along the ground; the ears suppurate. (Bailey and Gordon.)"

Caustic-Plant, or Caustic-Vine, n. Sarcostemma australis, R. Br., N.O.

Asclepiadea. Cattle and sheep are poisoned by eating it.

Cavally, n. the original form of the Australian fish-name Trevally (q.v.). The form Cavally is used to Europe, but is almost extinct in Australia; the form Trevally is confined to Australia.

Cedar, n. The true Cedar is a Conifer (N.O. Coniferae) of the genus Cedrus, but the name is given locally to many other trees resembling it in appearance, or in the colour or scent of their wood. The New Zealand Cedar is the nearest approach to the true Cedar, and none of the so-called Australian Cedars are of the order Coniferae. The following are the trees to which the name is applied in Australia:--

Bastard Pencil Cedar-- Dysoxylon rfum, Benth., N.O. Meliaceae.

Brown C.-- Ehretia acuminata, R. Br., N.O. Asperifoliae.

Ordinary or Red C.-- Cedrela australis, F. v. M.

Cedrela toona, R. Br., N.O. Meliaceae.

[C. toona is the "Toon" tree of India: its timber is known in the English market as Moulmein Cedar; but the Baron von Mueller doubts the identity of the Australian Cedar with the "Toon" tree; hence his name australis.]

Pencil C.-- Dysoxylon Fraserianum, Benth., N.O. Meliaceae.

Scrub White C.-- Pentaceras australis, Hook. and Don., N.O. Rutacea.

White C.-- Melia composita, Willd., N.O. Meliaceae.

Yellow C.-- Rhus rhodanthema, F. v. M., N.O. Anacardiacae.

In Tasmania, three species of the genus Arthrotaxis are called Cedars or Pencil Cedars; namely, A. cupressoides, Don., known as the King William Pine; A. laxifolza, Hook., the Mountain Pine; and A. selaginoides, Don., the Red Pine. All these are peculiar to the island.

In New Zealand, the name of Cedar is applied to Libocedrus bidwillii, Hook., N.O. Coniferae; Maori name, Pahautea.

1838. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions, vol. i. p. 328:

"The cedar of the colony (Cedrela toona, R. Br.), which is to be found only in some rocky gullies of the coast range."

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 63:

"Besides being valuable as a timber-producing tree, this red cedar has many medicinal properties. The bark is spoken of as a powerful astringent, and, though not bitter, said to be a good substitute for Peruvian bark in the cure of remitting and intermitting fevers."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 123:

"Pahautea, Cedar. A handsome conical tree sixty to eighty feet high, two to three feet in diameter. In Otago it produces a dark-red, freeworking timber, rather brittle ... frequently mistaken for totara."

Celery, Australian, or Native, n. Apium australe, Thon. Not endemic in Australia. In Tasmania, A. prostratum, Lab., N.O. Umbelliferae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 7:

"Australian Celery. This plant may be utilised as a culinary vegetable. (Mueller.) It is not endemic in Australia."

Celery-topped Pine. n. See Pine. The tree is so called from the appearance of the upper part of the branchlets, which resemble in shape the leaf of the garden celery.

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 9:

"The tanekaha is one of the remarkable `celery-topped pines,'

and was discovered by Banks and Solander during Cook's first voyage."

Centaury, Native, n. a plant, Erythraea australis, R. Br., N.O. Gentianeae. In New South Wales this Australian Centaury has been found useful in dysentery by Dr. Woolls.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 175:

"Native centaury ... is useful as a tonic medicine, especially in diarrhoea and dysentery. The whole plant is used and is pleasantly bitter. It is common enough in grass-land, and appears to be increasing in popularity as a domestic remedy."

Centralia, n. a proposed name for the colony South Australia ,(q.v.).

1896. J. S. Laurie, `Story of Australasia,' p. 299:

"For telegraphic, postal, and general purposes one word is desirable for a name--e.g. why not Centralia; for West Australia, Westralia; for New South Wales, Eastralia?"

Cereopsis, n. scientific name of the genus of the bird peculiar to Australia, called the Cake Barren Goose. See Goose. The word is from Grk.

kaeros, wax, and 'opsis, face, and was given from the peculiarities of the bird's beak. The genus is confined to Australia, and Cereopsis novae-hollandiae is the only species known. The bird was noticed by the early voyagers to Australia, and was extraordinarily tame when first discovered.

Channel-Bill, n. name given to a bird resembling a large cuckoo, Scythrops novae-hollandiae, Lath. See Scythrops.

Cheesewood, n. a tree, so-called in Victoria (it is also called Whitewood and Waddywood in Tasmania), Pittosporum bicolor, Hook., N.O. Pittosporeae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 588:

"Cheesewood is yellowish-white, very hard, and of uniform texture and colour. It was once used for clubs by the aboriginals of Tasmania. It turns well, and should be tested for wood engraving. (`Jurors' Reports, London International Exhibition of 1862.') It is much esteemed for axe-handles, billiard-cues, etc."

Cherry, Herbert River, n. a Queensland tree, Antidesma dallachyanum, Baill., N.O. Euphorbiaceae.

The fruit is equal to a large cherry in size, and has a sharp acid flavour.

Cherry, Native, n. an Australian tree, Exocarpus cupressiformis, R. Br., N.O. Santalaceae.

1801. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 242:

"Of native fruits, a cherry, insipid in comparison of the European sorts, was found true to the singularity which characterizes every New South Wales production, the stone being on the outside of the fruit."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 411:

"The shrub which is called the native cherry-tree appears like a species of cyprus, producing its fruit with the stone united to it on the outside, the fruit and the stone being each about the size of a small pea. The fruit, when ripe, is similar in colour to the Mayduke cherry, but of a sweet and somewhat better quality, and slightly astringent to the palate, possessing, upon the whole, an agreeable flavour."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1851, p. 219:

"The cherry-tree resembles a cypress but is of a tenderer green, bearing a worthless little berry, having its stone or seed outside, whence its scientific name of exocarpus."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 33: