53 



inaccessible where it grows, and this it does in large patches 

 of an acre or so in extent. At present the evil is not so great 

 as it threatens to be, hut it has rapidly assumed alarming pro- 

 portions. It is hard to say, also, how it can be dealt with. 

 Cutting it down does not meet the difficulty, as a small frag- 

 ment grows readily. The depth to which it sends its roots is 

 also very considerable. I noticed the same weed upon the 

 Brisbane River, and at Port Denison it forms a thicket which 

 is impassable on the beach in a few spots. Of all the weeds 

 I have mentioned it would probably be the worst. Not only 

 does it exclusively occupy the ground, but nothing can even 

 approach or tread on the places where it grows. 



It will be observed that, in the most of these instances of 

 the spread of plants, they follow the course of rivers. This is 

 not alone because the soil is so rich and moist for their develop- 

 ment, but also because the seeds are more easily transported 

 by the streams. A question will often arise as to how many 

 plants were introduced at all, and I can give an answer in the 

 case of one ; this is the common Fumitory, Fumaria officinalis. 

 The late Mr. George Crouch, of Portland, assured me that 

 he had never seen the plant in Australia until 1853. In that 

 year he was surprised to find it growing abundantly in his own 

 garden, with some other new weeds. He had bought some hay 

 from a merchant vessel discharging at Portland, Victoria. It 

 was English hay, the surplus of a supply for some valuable 

 stock brought out in the vessel. Mr. Crouch assured me that 

 wherever the hay had been stored, the Fumitory began to grow, 

 and it is now widely spread over the colony. It is a common 

 weed in the gardens near the Parramatta River, near Sydney, 

 and in various other places. 



In the preceding remarks I have not mentioned any of the 

 more common weeds which are wide-spread, and about whose 

 introduction, in some cases, the evidence is unsatisfactory. 

 Polygonum aviculare is one of these. It is seen everywhere 

 near settled districts, and takes the place of much valuable 

 feed, by its abundant growth. In Tasmania and Victoria 

 Hypochare cjlabra is the common weed of the pastures. It is not 

 much seen on the east coast. Erigeron conizoidei^ is very much 

 spread everywhere, but especially in New South Wales and 

 Queensland. As a rule the Victorian and Tasmanian pasture 

 weeds are the common British ones, while on the cast coast 

 there is an approach to the tropi(jal forms with the unusual 

 spread of certain species according to what has been related in 

 the preceding pages. I may mention that I have never been 

 in any part of Australia — even the tropics — where, near the 

 dwellings of man, I have not found the common house nettle, 

 Urticaurens, Solanum nigrum, and, probiib\y,AnagaUisarversis, 



