THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 47 



that is the danger of it. If it were ugly (if there be such a thing as an 

 ugly plant) every man's hand would be against it. I do not remember that 

 this plant has been recorded as found in New South Wales until I drew 

 attention to it in 1903 in a note published in the Journ. Royal Society, 

 N.S.W., for 1903. During that year it sprang into unenviable notoriety, for 

 it and the Cape Weed (Gryptostemma) were the two weeds most frequently 

 sent in by farmers as new to them. It came from scores of localities in all 

 parts of the State. I have no doubt that in the great majority of cases it 

 came with seed- wheat, since, after the break-up of the drought, farmers 

 often bought wheat that contained the seeds of various weeds. This wheat 

 came from North and South America, New Zealand, and other places. 



A Poison Buttercup (Ranunculus sceleratus L.). 

 (RANUNCULACE.E : Buttercup Family.) 



General Observations on the Buttercup Family. The genus Ranunculus 

 includes some yellow-flowering plants known as buttercups, some of which 

 are so small (e.g., R. muricatus and sceleratus) as to possess no special 

 decorative merits. They, and the rest of the family to which they belongv 

 are more or less acrid, and some of them are actually poisonous. Their 

 acrid nature is a great protection, for stock usually avoid them, but the so- 

 called Red Chamomile (Adonis autumnalis} has poisoned stock in this 

 State (see the Agricultural Gazette for September, 1912, p. 810), while 

 Monkshood (Aconite} is a well-known poison plant used in medicine, and 

 Larkspur (Delphinium) is a notorious poisoner of stock in the United 

 States, concerning which much literature is available. 



The poisonous principle in buttercups is said to be especially virulent at 

 the time of flowering, and it is also stated that they lose their injurious 

 properties when dried in hay. Their injuriousness therefore occurs when 

 browsed upon in the damp situations in which they are usually found. 



Mr. T. W. Kirk points out that buttercups are especially injurious to 

 pastures intended for the use of the dairy stock, as during the spring months 

 they give an unpleasant taste to butter. He also says that honey gathered 

 from certain species of buttercup will, if eaten new, sometimes cause serious 

 illness, if not death. The poison is, however, volatile, and old honey from 

 these sources is quite harmless. 



The particular buttercup referred to here was first recorded from New 

 South Wales by Mr. A. A. Hamilton in the Agricultural Gazette for October, 

 1913, p. 862, and from Mr. Hamilton's short paper some of the notes which 

 follow are taken. It had, however, been sent to me in November, 1907, by 

 Mr. C. T. Musson, of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, from Baker's 

 Lagoon, near Richmond, but I did not record the circumstance, and had* 

 indeed, forgotten it. 



