Transcription

MARANOA DISTRICT.
 

DRAWING OF THE SARSAPARILLA PLANT
 

This plant grows in every County in New South Wales, it is every where found on the stringy and Iron bark ranges, where it attains a height of from a foot, to a foot and a half. When in bloom it produces a blue flower, and grows in abundance
among the rocks and appears as a long creeper,
Save where it receives Some assistance from Some rock, stone or log, to raise its head.

The root of the Sarsaparilla has long been a valuable export from North, & South America. The properties of this plant were first triumphed up by the South American.  Jesuits, which [indecipherable] the [Faculty?] to test its medicinal value -  this has been much doubted
Perhaps the most that can be said for its virtue is, that dissection of the roots when boiled and mixed with other ingredients, makes a very refreshing and palatable beer, and as such, made use of in the United States of America -
The Vine or creeper from the Sarsaparilla passes along the surface of the ground for five or six feet from the stem, and the plant seldom attains the height of two feet. The native blacks of New England name the plant Illwargan.  Horses are very fond of the leaves and young shoots of the Sarsaparilla.  Cattle & Sheep make use of the leaves & stems of the Sarsaparilla

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