BY F. M. BAILEY, F.L.S. 27 



luxuriantly in one place, with only a struggling and precarious 

 existence in others. As an instance, I may mention Cnjptostemma 

 calendulacea, R. Brown, of which I saw a solitary plant the other 

 day in one of the back streets of Brisbane. It is a South African 

 weed, which has so overrun the pasture lands of the colony of 

 South Australia as almost totally to destroy the indigenous grasses 

 and useful fodder plants. It has a very rapid and succulent 

 growth in the early spring, and obscures the ground so as to stop 

 all other growth ; but on the first of the hot weather it withers 

 away, leaving nothing but a dried up mass which easily falls tc 

 powder, and a woolly pappus around its seeds which clings to 

 everything, and is especially injurious to wool. Our Queens- 

 land climate differs so much from that of South Australia, especially 

 during the spring months, that there is no likelihood of its spreading 

 to any extent on the coast country ; but should it once obtain a 

 footing out in the west — as for instance, on the Diamantina 

 — it would soon change the character of the country, and destroy 

 a large proportion of the fine grasses of the district. It would be 

 well if sheep-farmers would become acquainted with its features, 

 as a little attention in the beginning might prevent the growth of 

 the pest. It is somewhat like Dandelion, but has a solid flower 

 stalk, with showy flowers of very pale yellow, with a very deep 

 purple centre, which at a distance looks like black. It was 

 introduced into Adelaide in 1840 or 1841, and soon covered the 

 whole of the Adelaide plains. It is 10 years since I noticed it 

 first in Queensland, and since then no doubt it has been repeatedly 

 introduced either in hay or with seeds, or in earth around plants. 

 It has made vigorous attempts to settle in the country, but the 

 climate has hitherto kept it back. Climate has not been so 

 successful with another pest, Centaurea melitensis, Linn. This is 

 a prickly-headed composite plant from the Mediterranean, which 

 many farmers know by the name of cockspur. It is common 

 throughout the Darling Downs, the Maranoa country, &c. This 

 weed was introduced into South Australia.very early in its history, 



