76 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



leaves ovate or oval in outline, irregularly pinnately 5 7-lobed or 1 2-phmati- 

 fid, 2 5 inches long, petioled, the lobes mostly oblong, obtuse; flowers race- 

 mose, yellow, about 1 inch broad; racemes lateral, pedicels stout. 3 <> lines 

 long, erect both in flower and fruit; calyx densely prickly, surrounding and 

 wholly enclosing the berry, the prickles becoming as long as the fruit, or 

 longer ; calyx lobes lanceolate, acuminate ; corolla about 1 inch broad, slightly 

 irregular, its lobes ovate, acute ; stamens and style declined, the lowest stamen 

 longer with an incurved beak ; fruit, including its prickles, 1 inch in diameter, 

 or more, 



Fodder or other Uses. I have vainly searched for any use or redeeming 

 feature that I can ascribe to this bad weed. 



How to get rid of it. The burr or fruit is a spiny ball, full of black 

 seed. It becomes attached to passing animals, hence its liability to rapidly 

 spread. " It is often blown about as a tumble-weed in the prairie region of 

 the United States." 



It is an annual and should be pulled up or mown down before it matures 

 its seeds. If, therefore, people recognised it and pulled it up before seeding, 

 it could be destroyed in one year. It is stated to be "expected to be an 

 impurity in West American Alfalfa (lucerne) and clover seed." It is 

 a matter of common knowledge that rubbish-heaps in the vicinity of town- 

 ships are allowed to propagate weeds unchecked, it being simply nobody's 

 business to eradicate them. One of the Farmers' Bulletins of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, speaking of this as the way in which the 

 Buffalo burr has often been spread, says : " Similar instances might be 

 multiplied; in fact, probably the majority of the cities and towns of this 

 country are harbouring noxious weeds which should be destroyed in simple 

 justice to the farming communities which aid most directly in supporting- 

 the prosperity of these towns." These observations can with justice be 

 applied to New South Wales also. One Bulletin says it has been trans- 

 ported in packing materials. In the United States it is looked upon as 

 likely to occur " wherever western grain is handled," and I am afraid we 

 may trace its advent here to dirty seed-wheat or dirty chaff. It is recog- 

 nised as a bad weed in the United States, and a number of experiment 

 stations have published warnings concerning it. 



Where Found. Native of the United States of America, originally grow- 

 ing on the western plains, close to the mountains, from Mexico northward. 

 The Buffalo burr has been working eastward until it is now found in many 

 States east of the Mississippi River, and has even crossed the ocean, 

 threatening to become a troublesome weed in Germany. 



In 1904 I announced this as a new Australian weed making its appear- 

 ance at Boggabri in this State. Shortly afterwards it made its appearance 

 at Yass. Later it appeared in the Hay district, and it has been proclaimed 

 at the request of the Berrigan Shire. 



Thorn Apple or False Castor Oil Plant (Datura Stramonium L.). 



(SOLANACE.E : Potato Family.) 



Common Names. In the Jerilderie case to be presently referred to, the 

 local doctor informed me that the plant was known as "Wild Castor Oi! 

 Plant." Throughout the greater part of New South Wales its most common 

 name is " Castor Oil " without any qualification, and I will presently show 

 how regrettable the use of this name is, causing the greatest confusion. 



