Forage Plants of Australia. 87 



OEDEE NYCTAGHSTE.E. 



BOEKHAAVIA DIFFUSA, LINN. 

 " Hogweed." 



Flora Austr., Vol. V,p. 277. 



A PERENNIAL plant which is either smooth or hairy, with procumbent, 

 diffuse, or ascending stems, extending sometimes to several feet. The leaves 

 are in unequal pairs, and variable in shape, but the lower ones are mostly 

 broadly ovate, and from J to 1 inch broad ; the upper ones get gradually 

 smaller and narrower towards the flowers. The flowers are exceedingly 

 small, of a pale pink color, and are arranged in small heads on slender stalks, 

 more or less branched into irregular axillary or terminal panicles. Its fruits 

 are also exceedingly small, and are slightly ribbed as illustrated at figure 1. 

 This plant is found principally in the interior of all the colonies except 

 Tasmania, and in some situations it is plentiful. It is also a common, and 

 sometimes a troublesome, weed in the warmer parts of Asia and Africa. In 

 India the roots of this species are given as a laxative and vermifuge, and 

 n.s a remedy in dropsical cases. The long penetrating roots of this plant 

 enable it to withstand the severest drought, and its green leaves and pink 

 flowers may often be seen when the surrounding vegetation is dried up for 

 want of rain. The Rev. Dr. Woolls, to whom the Colony is indebted for 

 recording many observations on the useful plants of New South Wales, 

 speaks highly of this plant, and has several times drawn attention to its 

 value as a pasture herb during the early spring months ere the indigenous 

 grasses start into growth. I am indebted to I)r. Woolls for the specimen 

 from which the drawing was made. Both sheep and cattle are fond of 

 browsing upon all parts of the plant that grow above the ground. There 

 are only two species of this genus found in Australia, and neither of them 

 are endemic. The order Nyctaginece, to which these plants belong, is a very 

 small one, being represented in Australia by only two genera and five species, 

 and none of them are endemic. I have a lively recollection, during a 

 botanical tour, of the seeds of Pisonia brunoniana, Enctl. Having come 

 across a plant in fruit, and being anxious to gather some, and as everything 

 we had was full, nothing presented itself except one's hat to put them in, 

 which receptacle was accordingly utilised, though not so many seeds were 

 put into it that it could not be placed on the head again. The trouble, 

 came, however, a few hours afterward, when we tried to get out the fruits. 

 They simply stuck to the hair like so much wax, and it was sometime before 

 they could be freed from it. The three species of the genus Pisonia are 

 found principally on the north-eastern seaboard of Australia. 



Dr. blasters says several species of the genus Boerhaavia are in cultivation 

 (Europe), but have no particular beauty to recommend them. Besides the 

 medicinal properties of the one under notice, already mentioned, some of the 

 species are used as emetics, and for other medicinal purposes. 



