42 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Uses of the Nettle. Like most plants of the family to which it belongs, 

 the nettle contains a valuable fibre. Dwarf nettle would be an inferior raw 

 product for the purpose of obtaining the fibre, but it may be pointed out 

 that in Germany a good deal of attention has been drawn to the nettle fibre 

 since the beginning of the war, certain fibre materials being unavailable. 



In Britain, particularly northern England and Scotland, nettles are 

 regularly used for the preparation of a temperance beverage termed nettle- 

 beer. It corresponds to ginger-beer. It has a " bite," and is consumed in 

 enormous quantities by the poorer classes. It is most pleasant to the taste, 

 and I feel that if these herb-beers (e.g.., nettle, horehound) were better known 

 in Australia they would fill a real want. They would be home-made, and 

 are a vast improvement upon most of the sickly-sweet, characterless 

 beverages usually sold as ginger-ale and lemonade. 



Where Native of. It is a native of Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, 

 It is very common in Britain, and has spread, chiefly in waste places, over a 

 considerable area of Australia, extending far into the interior. 



How to deal with it. Nettles should be hand-pulled (with leather gloves, 

 of course) wherever possible. This is the only certain method of destruc- 

 tion. In special circumstances they can be mown or otherwise cut down. 



Khaki Weed (Alternanthera Achryantha R.Br., var. echinata; 



A. echinata Sm.). 

 ( AMARANTACE^E : Amaranth Family.) 



Vernacular Name. " Khaki Weed," because of the prevailing colour of 

 the plant. 



In the Agricultural Gazette of September, 1909, p. 760, I have a note 

 entitled " A so-called Australian Weed in South Africa." I referred to this 

 weed as Alternanthera echinata Sm,, a South African plant. It is united 

 in the Index Kewensis, with A. Achryantha, R.Br.; but it differs a good 

 deal from that species, and is at least a good variety." 



In the Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope, December, 1909, 

 p. C58, is the following note: 



In the September issue of the New South Wales Agricultural Gazette, the 

 noxious weed Alternanthera echinata Sm., known in Cape Colony as the 

 " Amarantus Weed," and in the Transvaal as " Khaki Weed," is credited as 

 being a South African plant. This is not so. It was introduced during the 

 war, probably in forage from the Argentine, the plant being of tropical American 

 origin. This plant has been proclaimed under the Noxious Weed Act in the 

 following districts : Kimberley, Vryburg, Somerset East, Trauskeian Terri- 

 tories, and Pondoland. 



In the Flora Capensis, v. 432, under A. Achryantha R.Br., we have A. 

 echinata Sm., as a synonym, with the note " A native of Tropical South 

 America, but now becoming a troublesome weed in Tropical and South 

 Africa." 



I believe it is correct to say that this weed was introduced to Australia 

 from South Africa, although its original home is Tropical South. America; 

 and it is certainly a fact that in South Africa over large areas it was 

 credited as being an Australian plant, and was thought to be so by many 

 of our soldiers, who brought specimens back as a curiosity from South 

 Africa. Perhaps it was introduced into Australia as a weed from South 

 Africa, but I have not sufficient evidence on this point. 



