28 CAcTACEZ.—LORANTHACEZ. 
Cacracez (Cactus Fam ty). 
Plants with fleshy prickly stems and usually rather large flowers with 
numerous stamens. Several species of cactus have proved a great pest in 
New South Wales and Queensland, but in Victoria only one species seems 
to gain any foothold, and though not as yet_abundant anywhere has been 
wisely proclaimed for the whole State. The plants of this order are 
readily spread by seeds carried by birds and animals which eat the edible 
fruits, and in addition any joint is able to strike root and start a new 
plant, and may remain alive some weeks after being cut off the parent 
plant. ‘ : 
Opuntia monacantha, Haw. Prickly Pear or Cactus. A native of South 
America, which according to Mr. Maiden was wrongly named O. Dilleniz, 
Haw., by Baron von Mueller, occurs locally in several places, and is likely 
to spread in hot, dry, sheltered places. It does not stand severe frost, but 
when once established is exceedingly difficult to eradicate. It needs to 
be dug up, and either buried deeply or piled in dense heaps, covered thickly 
with quicklime or sprayed with arsenite of soda or dilute sulphuric acid 
(1 Ib. concentrated acid per cwt. of plants). If plenty of brushwood is 
available, the plants can be broiled or boiled, and so killed. After boiling, 
the stems can be used as fodder, but if many of the small spines adhere, 
the animals are likely to suffer internal irritation or inflammation, and 
in any case the material has only a low fodder value. It has often been 
stated that the plant is likely to prove a boon to pastoralists, but such 
statements can only have emanated from an ignorant or prejudiced person, 
and they are contrary to the experience of all countries where the plant is 
abundant. 
To burn off the spines by means of a torch from as many plants as 
the stock can eat in a day, as has been recommended, is very difficult to 
do properly, and would be costly without cheap native labour. It would 
merely provide a watery and at the same time fibrous and therefore dan- 
gerous fodder at considerable cost. To propagate spineless cacti in the 
hope of their suppressing the spiny form is merely wasted labour. 
The name monacantha is misleading, since the spines are often paired. 
LoraNTHACE& (MISTLETOE Famizy). 
A small order of parasitic shrubs spread over the whole globe, many 
being serious forestral pests in Australia and elsewhere. 
Loranthus celastroides, Sieber. The Mistletoe. A parasitic glabrous 
shrub, usually on our native trees. Leaves opposite, from a rounded egg 
shape to a narrow lance shape, and, when narrow, often sickle-shaped ; 
thick in structure. Flowers in loose cymes, usually terminal ; petals elon- 
gated, five or six, free, often yellowish or somewhat reddish, soon spreading 
or reflexed ; loosely hung anthers. Fruit almost pear-shaped, yellowish green. 
The Mistletoe is a native of Australia. This parasite spreads over the trees, 
and eventually destroys them. It grows mainly on Eucalypts, but on others 
also. The best method of eradication is to have the infested branches 
entirely removed and burned, as well as any young branches on which 
seedlings may have established themselves. 
Proclaimed under the Thistle Act for the whole State—October, 1904. 
Loranthus pendulus, Sieber. The Hanging Mistletoe. A glabrous shrub 
parasitic on the branches of trees. Leaves mostly opposite, egg-shaped, or 
elongated; and of nearly equal breadth near base and apex; from two 
inches to ten inches long, and sometimes even longer, seldom assuming, a 
