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The Legend is "The Desert Manna Tree" which indeed
it truly is, for in times of drought many hundreds of thousands
of cattle, sheep, and camels have been able to survive on
the leaves and small branchlets, provided bore or well water
was available for drinking.
It grows on the sand hills, stony hills, claypans and ridges
of the vast inland in the great quietness of the Australian
bush even in areas with an annual rainfall of under 150
mm. It braves the fierce hot blasts, the desert dusts and
sand storms, which are prevalent. In dry years, when the
temperature soars, sometimes reaching 170o, while other
shrubs perish in the long droughts, this tree flourishes.
Its outer bark is hard and rough and the tree has a large
root system. Also it is called the inland steel, from it
the aborigines made spear points, boomerangs, waddies and
other weapons.
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From a shoot to a woggle |
