48 



the place an unenviable notoriety. I refer to the Bathurst 

 burr, a member of the Composite order, named Xanthium 

 spinosum. If this noxious weed had no other quaUtj than 

 the destructive seed case, or " burr," which it produces so 

 abundantly, that qualtity alone would make it one of our 

 most formidable weeds. But this is only one of its properties. 

 Its abundance in some portions of the Bathurst District is 

 perfectly amazing. In the Wellington valley and along the 

 valley of the Macquarie, many hundred acres are wholly taken 

 up with this weed. It forms a dense thicket about three 

 feet high, which is of dark brown color, and anything but 

 picturesque. If any other plant struggles against it, the 

 Duly one appears to be the almost equally-dreaded sweet briar. 

 Xantlimm sp'mosum has now got such a hold on the district 

 that its eradication is hopeless. So far as we know, it serves- 

 no useful purpose. Cattle will not eat it because of the thorns, 

 and it is believed to have poisonous qualities. Another species, 

 Xanthmm stnimarium, Dilw., which has a burr but no thorns, 

 is proved, beyond all doubt, to be a sheep and cattle poison. 

 It is not a common weed, but its poisonous effects have been 

 experienced in some parts of Queensland, so that the moat 

 vigorous measures are being taken for its extirpation. I have 

 never seen it in the Bathurst district. The other species, X. 

 spinosum, is all over the western district. I saw specimens 

 of it about sheep-yards in South Australia twenty years ago, 

 but it does not appear to have spread much in that district, 

 neither have I observed it anywhere covering the ground so 

 thickly as along the valley of the Macquarie River. 



While on the subject of " Burrs " I may mention that 

 Medicago denticulata, Linn., has spread, as a fodder plant, 

 through all the pasture lands of Victoria, South Australia, 

 and most of 'New South Wales. It is a useful j^laut but for the 

 seed pod, which is injurious to wool. Everyone is familiar 

 with the way the legume is curled into close spiral, from which 

 short hooked spikes project in a radiate manner. These are 

 abundantly scattered over the ground, and cling to almost 

 everything which touches them. Thus the seed is spread. 

 An enormous quantity of wool is damaged in this manner, 

 and, as it is more widely spread tha,n the Bathurst Burr, it 

 probably does more harm. 



Another curious example of the spread of one particular 

 plant, is seen along the valley of the Hunter Eiver, and the 

 most of its tributaries. This is Argemone mexicana, one of 

 the poppy tribe. It is rather a showy plant with leaves, which 

 at a distance, appear pale, bluish white, of rough, harsh con- 

 sistency, and covered with prickles. It has powerful narcotic 

 properties from which it has received the name, from the 



