INTRODUCED PLANTS. 149 



spreading very much, in waste places, and although it is a useful 

 remedy in skilful hands, yet it should be regarded as a dangerous 

 plant, being a powerful narcotic, and the effects of it are similar 

 to those ofAtropa and Hyoscyamus. It is said that the Indian poi- 

 soners employ it for the purpose of producing lethargy without 

 killing, in order to facilitate theft and other criminal designs. 

 Some practitioners recommend the smoking of the leaves in 

 paroxysms of pure spasmodic asthma ; but when any portion of 

 the plant is taken internally in too large a quantity, serious con- 

 sequences, even death itself, may result. 



(11.) Verlenacece: the common vervain (Verbena officinalis) is 

 indigenous, but F. Bonariensis is of foreign origin. This plant, 

 which came in the first instance from South America, may be 

 found not only in waste places in the neighbourhood of Sydney, 

 but it has travelled beyond Mudgee. F. officinalis is a popular re- 

 medy amongst country people, but the other species is not re- 

 garded as possessing any medicinal properties. 



In the fourth division of the Vegetable or the Monochlamydeae, 

 the introduced species may be referred to the following families : 

 (1.) Amarantacece ; (2.) Chenopodiacece ; (3.) Polygonacece ; and 

 (4.) Urticacece. In the first of these, two species of Amarantus 

 are very common, spreading almost everywhere in cultivated 

 ground and waste places, viz : A. oleraceus and A. Hitum. These, 

 although regarded as mere weeds, are not without their uses, for 

 in seasons of scarcity they might be eaten as pot-herbs, and in 

 some countries they are employed in emollient poultices. Of the 

 Chenopodiacece, Chenopodium murale, and C. ambrosioides, are also 

 abundant. They have a place in the Pharmacopeia, but perhaps 

 with little reason. In the Polyyonacece, there are three species at 

 least oiRumex or dock, which have found their way to these shores. 

 H. ct ispus and It. sanyuineus have had some reputation ; the first as 

 a cure for the itch, and the second as a mild aperient, but the 

 species most troublesome in fields and gardens is R. acetosella. 

 This plant is said to be antiscorbutic, and the leaves make ex- 

 cellent whey by being boiled in milk ; but as it has a tap root, which 

 it is difficult to eradicate, and which spreads very much in any 

 loose soil where it has been introduced, the whole plant is much 

 disliked by the gardener and agriculturist. Polyyonum aviculare, 

 or knot grass, is another plant of the same family. It derives its 



