84 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



How to deal with it. It would be a good thing to make a raid on these 

 plants year after year, wherever they work mischief ; pulling or hoeing them 

 out when the plant is in flower is best. They should never be allowed to 

 seed. To carry out this advice effectively will be a matter of the greatest 

 difficulty, since the weed is enormously developed in New South Wales; 

 and, further, its commonest habitat is the banks of rivers and creeks pre- 

 cisely where cattle have to go to drink. 



Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus communis L.). 

 : Spurge Family.) 



Often confused with Thorn Apple, The Castor Oil of the average Aus- 

 tralian is the Thorn Apple (Datura Stramonium}, see above. The true- 

 Castor Oil plant is, however, very much larger, and with smaller fruits, than 

 the Thorn Apple. An old figure of the true Castor Oil plant will be found 

 in the Botanical Magazine,, t. 2209. 



A form with rich coppery leaves, known as var. Gibsoni, is often seen in 

 Sydney gardens, for it is very ornamental. 



Botanical Description. 



A tall, erect plant. Leaves peltate, palmately lobed, irregularly serrate. 

 Calyx, 5-partite in the male flowers, 3-partite in the females. Stamens 

 numerous. Styles 3, bifid. Capsule echinate, 3-celled. Seeds large, mottled. 



Where Found. It grows in many tropical and sub-tropical countries, 

 preferring light sandy soils. It is well known to us in New South Wales,. 

 having been proclaimed as a weed by no less than five shires and ten 

 municipalities, as follows : 



SHIRES. 



Eurobodalla Narraburra Rylstone. 



Mulwaree Jindalee 



MUNICIPALITIES. 



Burwood Concord Manly Yass. 



Coonanible Corowa Jimee 



Cootamundra Cowra Woollahra 



Castor Oil Leaves as Fodder. In the Agricultural Gazette for October, 

 1911, p. 888, Mr. Mark H. Keynolds, Inspector of Agriculture, writes as 

 follows: On the Macquarie flats, in the Dubbo district, this plant was the 

 predominant vegetation in 1876. After the first frost the plant begins to 

 die, and it was then that Mr. W. Baird turned 1,100 wethers into about 90 

 acres. At first the sheep would not touch the Castor Oil plants, but ulti- 

 mately they fattened on them. The mutton was slightly tainted by the feed, 

 but the flesh was of good colour. 



Three years ago Mr. Baird did likewise, on the same piece of land. The 

 prickles on the pods of the plant become very soft after they have been 

 frosted, and the seeds were what the sheep particularly relished; but they 

 also ate the wilted leaves. 



