384 DICOTYLEDONS AND CONIFERS 



"abundant in warm dry soils as far south as the East Cape, rare and 

 local from thence to Cook Strait." There is no reason to believe 

 that it is a survival from Cook's time ; it has been re-introduced much 

 more recently. (Fl., Nov. to Jan.) 



Claytonia perfoliata, Donn. 



Found by myself as a garden escape near Dunedin in 1886, and 

 still occasionally met with; also recorded from Cheviot by von Haast, 

 and as a garden weed in Invercargill by Cockayne. It is a North 

 American species, but I have reason to believe that it was introduced 

 with seed or bulbs from Britain, where it is not infrequently natural- 

 ised. It does not spread, nor does it seem to thrive away from culti- 

 vated ground. In 1912 Cheeseman reports it from Karori, Wellington, 

 collected by J. S. Tennant. 



Calandrinia caulescens, H. B. K. 



Cheeseman states that this species appeared in 1881 in a freshly- 

 sown grass field at Otahuhu (Auckland). In the Manual (1906) he 

 reports it as growing in "cultivated fields, rare and local" in both 

 islands. It formerly was common in one locality near Dunedin, but 

 has since disappeared. Kirk reported it from "near Christchurch." 

 In 1882 he stated that "a white-flowered species has become plentiful 

 in stony places near Penrose and thence to Onehunga." 



HYPERICINE^) 

 Hypericum Androscemum, Linn. Tutsan 



First recorded by Kirk in 1869 from Auckland district. In the 

 Manual Cheeseman (1906) reports it as not uncommon on roadsides 

 and waste places. But it is particularly a plant found about meadows, 

 in the shelter of hedges, thickets, etc. 



Now especially abundant by sides of water-courses and on the 

 outskirts of forest land, where it often forms a dense undergrowth. 

 Birds feed on the fruit and thus tend to spread it over wide areas. 



Included in the Second Schedule of the Noxious Weeds Act by 

 Special Gazette Notice of ist October, 1903 ; and in Third (noxious 

 seeds) Schedule by Gazette Notice of loth November, 1904. 



Hypericum perforatum, Linn. St John's Wort 

 First recorded in T. Kirk's list of Great Barrier plants in 1867. 

 Cheeseman states that in 1882 it is common round Pirongia and 

 threatens to become a dangerous weed. At Matamata "some old 

 pastures have been completely over-run with it." It was first noticed 

 in Otago by the author in 1894 in the neighbourhood of Dunedin. 

 It is stated in the Manual (1906) to be abundant in both islands. 



