INTBODUCED PLANTS* 145 



rolliflorce, I shall make some remarks upon species under the fol- 

 lowing families: (1.) Asclepiadacece; (2.) Caprifoliacece; (3.) Con- 

 volmdacece ; (4.) Galiaceos ; (5.) Gentianacece ; (6.) Lamiacece ; (7.) 

 Oleacece ; (8.) PlantaginacecG ; (9.) Primulacex ; (10.) Solanacece 

 (11.) Verbenacece. 



(1.) Asclepiadacece : In this family there are many native climb- 

 ers, but the Asclepiad spreading most widely in New South 

 Wales, is said to be a native of the Cape of Good Hope. This 

 is the wild cotton of the colonists (Gomphocarpus fructicosus) , al- 

 though it is not in any way allied to the cotton of commerce ( Gos- 

 sypiutii). This plant is called Argel in Syria, and is used to 

 adulterate senna, rendering it bitter and irritating, and there can 

 be no doubt but that the milky juice is very acrid. It is a fact 

 worthy of notice, that a species of aphis is frequently found on 

 this plant similar to that which sometimes infests the Soya car- 

 nosa, or wax plant. We have in this neighbourhood two species 

 of Marsdenia, and two of Tylophora, and also one of the Apocy- 

 nacecB (Lyonsiastraminea), all of which have seeds similar to those 

 of the wild cottoD, but the habit of these indigenous climbers dif- 

 fers very much from that of the introduced plant. 



(2.) Caprifoliacece : The black-berried elder (Samfiucus nigra) 

 has a tendency to run wild in some localities. One might natu- 

 rally expect this to be the case, as two species of the same family 

 ($. Gaudicliaudiana and Sir Thomas Mitchell's Tripetelus Austra- 

 lasicus) are natives of the colony. The latter was found by Sir 

 Thomas on the banks of the Lachlan, but it also occurs in many 

 places near Sydney. 



(3.) Convolvulacece : Some species of this family which have 

 been cultivated in gardens seem well adapted to our climate, and 

 are likely to spread. Though somewhat troublesome in orchards, 

 they are not calculated to do much mischief, but the injurious 

 Cuscuta epithymum is doing much damage to the Lucerne, par- 

 ticularly in the neighbourhood of Groulburn and Bathurst. For 

 this pest, the colonists are indebted to the mother country. I 

 have found the native dodder growing on the stems of Poli/gonum, 

 near the Nepean, but not extending into the cultivation so as to 

 injure the crops. It seems probable that the climate of this 

 neighbourhood is too warm for the increase of Cuscuta, and that 

 its ravages are more to be dreaded in the colder parts of the 

 T 



