BY F. M. BAILEY, F.L.S. 31 



about towns, but is not seen in tlie country. It has a very showy 

 newer, but is a poisonous weed, not only useless, -but dangerous. 



One would not easily suppose that the common prickly pear 

 ( ' Optunia vulgaris, Mill) would become a troublesome weed, or 

 make much progress ; yet it has spread widely and rapidly in 

 Queensland; and in New South Wales, especially along the 

 Upper Hunter, its spread is really formidable. It occupies large 

 patches of some of the best lands, and no good means have yet 

 been devised to eradicate it. Its fruits are eaten by many 

 animals, and in that way the seeds become carried about. It is 

 a purely American plant, and, where it becomes spread into large 

 patches, forms a striking contrast to the Australian vegetation. 

 The climate and soil seem favourable to the genus, and there are 

 two other species which are naturalized in Australia. 



Among the Solanace?e we have a goodly number of naturalized 

 plants. The common thorn apple {Datura stramonium, Linn.) has 

 become a great nuisance in all the colonies of Australia, but more 

 in Queensland than elsewhere. It has been thought to have 

 caused the death of stock now and again ; but I imagine such 

 instances must be rare, as it is seldom eaten by stock. .„The harm 

 it does is the room which it takes up, which would in most cases 

 be otherwise occupied by good grass. The beautiful Sola nam 

 sodomceum, Linn., with orange-colored fruits, is a very common 

 object in our forest country. It is also met with at times in the 

 scrubs, but seems to prefer the former situation. It is often 

 imagined that there are two species of this plant because of the 

 pale or variegated tints of the fruit, but this difference is due to 

 some unfavourable circumstance in its growth. The species is 

 indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean, and was first 

 grown here as a garden plant. I pass over the smaller species of 

 the order, such as the bittersweet, and which arc found every 

 where near cultivated ground. ^ 



It is rather astonishing that so very few of the large order 

 LygLiminosie have become naturalized aniongdfc as. We have 



