414 DICOTYLEDONS AND CONIFERS 



FICOIDE^E 



Mesembryanthemum edule, Linn. Pig-face ; Hottentot Fig 

 First recorded in 1822 by Cheeseman, as naturalised on sandy 

 beaches near Auckland. In the Manual (1906) it is stated to be " often 

 planted to check the advance of drifting sands, and spreading in 

 several localities, especially near New Plymouth." It is very widely 

 spread over the country, but is only naturalised in the South Island 

 in a few localities, e.g. in the Canterbury sand-dunes. 



CACTE^) 



Opuntia vulgaris. Prickly Pear ; Indian Fig 

 E. Jerningham Wakefield in 1840 found prickly pears in gardens 

 at Hokianga; they had, no doubt, been planted there by the mis- 

 sionaries. Drummond states that it was introduced into Mongonui 

 in 1847, by Mr Walter Brodie. It has, fortunately, shown no tendency 

 to run wild in New Zealand, as it has done in parts of warm temperate 

 and sub-tropical Australia. 



UMBELLIFEILE 



Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Linn. Penny-wort ; White-rot 

 Recorded by W. W. Smith in 1903 as occurring in Ashburton 

 County. It has not been collected since. 



Conium maculatum, Linn. Hemlock 



According to Armstrong this species was sown by a herbalist in 

 Christchurch in 1865. The next record is from Wellington where 

 T. Kirk found it in 1877. Cheeseman states a few plants were observed 

 in some waste ground at the Thames in 1880, but were not to be 

 found by him two years later. In 1895 the Agricultural Department 

 reported three patches of the plant in Wellington. W. W. Smith 

 reported it from Ashburton in 1903, "but not common." It was 

 common in places near Dunedin in 1914, but was apparently not so 

 abundant in 1919. Its occurrence, then, seems to be somewhat erratic. 



It flowers in Oct. and Nov. In Europe it is visited by Musca 

 domestica and M. corvina. 



This species was included in the Second Schedule of the Noxious 

 Weeds Act by Special Gazette Notice of 27th March, 1902 ; and in the 

 Third Schedule by Special Gazette Notice of loth November, 1904. 



Bupleurum rotundifolium, Linn. Hare's-ear ; Thorough- wax 

 Stated in the Manual (1906) to occur in cultivated fields and waste 

 places in the North Island ; Cheeseman reporting it from near Auck- 



