38 CoMPosITAé. 
leaves clasping the stem. The ‘‘seeds’’ are thin and flat, and mav be 
carried by the wind from place to place. They may remain living in the 
soil for some years, like those of Charlock, and this is unusual among Com- 
posite, the seeds in this order being usually short-lived. Cleanly cultiva- 
tion, coupled with hoeing or hand-weeding, keeps the plant down, but it 
takes some ‘years to clean badly infected fields, even with the aid of root 
crops and rotations. 
C. Leucanthemum, L. The Ox-eye Daisy. A native of Europe and Asia. 
lt is a perennial weed of pastures and waste places, but not troublesome 
unless neglected. Its presence is usually a sign of poverty in the soil; 
manuring and scarifying will greatly diminish it. 
C. Parthenium, Bernh. The Feverfew. A native of Europe. Some- 
times occurs probably as a garden escape. It is a useless perennial, ob- 
noxious on account of its unpleasant smell, and is grown in gardens by 
people with a blunted olfactory sense. 
Cichorium Intybus, L. Chicory. A native of Europe and Asia. A 
fairly common escape from cultivation. ‘The plant is perénnial, and has 
a certain value as a fodder plant, if not too abundant, especially when 
young: If allowed to run wild, however, and to remain uncropped, the 
plant soon degenerates, especially on poor, dry soils; the root loses its 
value as a surrogate for coffee, and the stem becomes hard and scrubby. 
In hay, the leaves are apt to dry black, and somewhat deteriorate its value. 
To eradicate it from arable land, the tap roots must be raked out or picked 
out after ploughing, and the formation of seed prevented. 
Cryptostemma calendulaceum, R. Br. The Cape Weed. A _ tufted 
plant, almost stemless. Leaves in a rosette, obovate, usually segmented, 
three to six inches long, cottony white beneath, glabrous above. Flowers 
solitary on slender stalks, one to one and a half inches diameter. Rav- 
florets yellow, spreading ; inner ones tubular, brownish. Achenes woolly. 
This plant is a native of South Africa, and was collected in Western 
Australia as early as 1838, thence spreading to South Australia and Vic- 
toria. Hence the association of Mueller’s name with the introduction of 
this pest is hardly just. The plant is an annual, though on rich Jand, when 
closely cropped, it may become more or less perennial. Jt also spreads 
readily and widely by means of its numerous seeds, and though of some use 
for grazing while it is growing, it covers an amount of ground dispropor- 
tionate to its productive powers, and dies down during summer, leaving’ the 
ground bare. The supporting value of a permanent pasture is that of its 
weakest month, just as the strength of a chain. is that of its weakest 
link. Even when dry fodder or silage is available, completely bare pastures 
in summer time are a Serious matter, and owing to its mode of growth the 
ordinary form cannot be cut to any extent for silage. On rich ground, 
when close together and shaded, the plant is larger and more erect, but is 
then rather watery. One form has a taller, leafy stem, and is of somewhat 
greater value, but on the whole the weed renders pasturage returns more 
uncertain and precarious, while in gardens and on all arable land it is an 
unmitigated pest. In addition, stock are apt to suffer or even die when 
suddenly turned into paddocks where Cape Weed is especially abundant 
and luxurious. : 
Tillage and cultivation keep it under, and hence pasture land can be 
cleaned by ploughing and cropping, coupled with rotation farming. Periodic 
resting and the avoidance of over-grazing also helps to keep it down in 
pastures. The seed appear to have a limited vitality in the soil, and hence 
are soon exhausted if flowering is prevented by hoeing, cultivation, or hand- 
icking. 
# Picea for the Shires of Maldon, Poowong and Jeetho. 
