9 Sept., 1907.] Guildford Grass. 537 



GUILDFORD GRASS, OR ONION GRASS.* 



Romulea cruciata, Ker-Gawl. {Iridea). 

 Alfred J . Ezmrt, D.Sc, Ph. D., F.L.S., Government Botanist. 



This pretty little Irid, the sudden appearance of whose pink flowers in 

 grass, turf, ,path borders, and similar situations in spring, draws perennial 

 attention to it, has undoubtedly become a troublesome weed in many pas- 

 tures, its somewhat grass-like leaves hiding its presence until flowering 

 occurs. Owing to its small perennial subterranean corms, its free seeding, 

 and its generally resistant character to extreme conditions, the eradication 

 of the plant from land of which it has once taken possession is impossible 

 by ordinary methods, except at a prohibitive cost. Hence I have been 

 reluctant to advise the proclamation of the plant in spite of the frequent 

 complaints as to the serious damage it does to pastures until it was ,possible 

 to give practical methods of keeping down the weed. 



Proclamation under the Thistle Act does not necessitate immediate 

 eradication, since conviction may be suspended provided that the Justices 

 are satisfied that the person affected has used and is using all reasonable 

 exertions to destroy the plants in question. Since the methods given at 

 the end of this article will insure the complete or almost complete sup- 

 pression of the weed on agricultural land at the end of two or three years 

 without any cost which is not represented by an increased value or yield 

 from the land, no further objections to the jproclamation exist, and its 

 presence may be used as a lever to secure better methods of cultivation. 



The following is an extract from the Proceedings of the Royal Society 

 of Victoria, Vol. XIX., page 43 (1906), in regard to this plant: — 



" I. This widely-spread Irid with rose-lilac flowers, and tough grass-like leaves, is 

 commonly known as Guildford grass or Onion-grass, and was originally referred by 

 F. von Mueller as Romiilea bulbocodium, L. It is given in Rodway's Flora of Tas- 

 mania as Trichonema roseum, Ker., which is a synonym for R. rosea, a South African 

 plant. Both the species, however, have the style longer than the stamens, whereas our 

 plant resembles the R. cruciata, distinguished by Ker. Gawl. (Botanical Magazine, 

 1802, plate 575) from R. rosea and R. bulbocodium, by the style shorter than the 

 stamens and the hairy filaments. Baker, in the Flora Cafensis, makes this species, 

 R. longifolia, Baker, but the three purple stripes on the outer perianth segments 

 given by Baker are absent or very feebly developed, and the spathe segments 

 are smaller (^ cm. long in flower to i cm. in fruit), the inner segment having 

 a broad scarious margin. The leaf, as in the type specimens of R. cruciata, often 

 has a fifth groove on one edge for a portion of its length. The character of 

 the spathe segments justifies the recognition of an Australian variety of R. 

 cruciata." 



" There can be no doubt that the short style with its six very short stigmatic 

 arms, which separate as the stamens shed their pollen, is an adaptation for self 

 pollination. The flowers, which are strongly thermonastic, only open on warm 

 sunny days and do not seem to have any regular insect visitors. The plant grew 

 abundantly in the neighbourhood of the Botanic Gardens over 40 years ago, and 

 may date further back still, for its increase is favoured by the conditions attendant 

 on the presence of civilized man. Probably if specimens had been collected from 

 the early part of last century we would have received evidence of adaptive modi- 

 fication on the part of this plant, but whether R. cruciata var. Australis is derived 

 from R. bulbocodium or R. rosea is impossible to say. In any case the whole 

 genus of Romulea is badly in need of revision. Lxperiments on the extermina- 

 tion of this weed are in progress at the Herbarium and in the Domain grounds. 

 The use of pigs has been suggested to root out the corms fronr. the ground, and 



* Proclaimed under the Thistle Act for the whole State, August, 1907. 



