Juncace®.—CyPpErACE&. 61 
doing serious harm to the pastures, and, like all bulbous plants, is difficult 
to suppress except by cultivation. Very much the same treatment applies 
as in the case of the Onion Grass, but the bulbs being larger and less 
numerous, are more easily removed from local patches by forking over, 
raking, and picking. These bulbs contain a good deal of sugar, and after 
washing and fermentation they have been employed by peasants in Europe 
as a source of alcohol by distillation. The plant does not appear to be 
poisonous or actively injurious, but is, nevertheless, quite unsuitable as 
fodder: for ordinary stock. Pigs might, however, root up and eat the bulbs 
without injury. The plant has been proclaimed for the Shires of Bella- 
rine, South Barwon, Port Fairy, Queenscliff, and Swan Hill, at the re- 
quest of the respective Shire Councils. 
Bulbine bulbosa, Haw., and B. semibarbata, Haw., are two native 
plants often called Wild Onion or Leek, of which the former is supposed 
to be poisonous, the latter a troublesome weed, especially in South Aus- 
tralia. The ‘‘poisonous’’ effect appears to be the result of a scouring 
action, such as an exclusive diet of raw or diseased potatoes will produce 
on pigs, cabbage on horses, or club-rooted turnips on sheep. -The action 
is not necessarily the result of a direct poison. Both plants can be kept 
down by cultivation, manuring, and rotation farming. 
Nothoscordum fragrans, Kunth., is another introduced weed, often 
called the Wild Onion, having broad, flat leaves and white flowers. This 
plant is a native of North America and Africa, and was introduced pos- 
sibly as a garden plant some time ago. It has now established itself as a 
naturalized alien in the Western District, in many localities near Melbourne, 
and has also made its way into Pentridge. The plant bears radical leaves 
like those of a small leek, on long, upright stalks, and an umbellate cluster 
of greenish-white flowers, tinged with pink or purple, each cluster enclosed 
when young by two pointed membranous bracts. The pods are dark green 
and three-lobed at the top, six to twenty in each cluster. The white under- 
ground bulb has a somewhat onion-like smell, and is surrounded by dozens 
of small pointed bulbils, each of which can form a new plant. Hence, 
direct mechanical eradication is impossible. The plant can best be sup- 
pressed by cultivation and by the growth of leafy fodder or root crops. 
The ground must be worked well between each crop, so that the bulbils 
are not allowed to develop. Two years’ treatment will be necessary to 
suppress it fully. Poisons are useless. The plant is not itself poisonous, 
but is useless for fodder, and a great nuisance on grazing land. The weed 
is likely to prove as troublesome as Onion Grass if neglected. 
Juncacez@ (RUSHES). 
The. flowers usually occur in clusters, and, though small and scaly, 
closely resemble those of the Liliece@. A small order of no special economic 
value, useless for fodder, but sometimes of value for bedding, plaiting, 
and basket-work, &c. The plants prefer badly grated, moist ground, but 
many will also grow on ground which is very dry for a part of the year at 
least. The Flat-leaved Wood Rushes (Zwzula) are common in moist woods 
or On more open ground, but only the cosmopolitan Zuzula compestris, D.C., 
is native to Victoria. The true Rushes (Juncus) are represented by twelve 
species, one of which, /umcus bufonius, L., the Toad Rush, is a cosmo- 
politan weed. Rushes are useless as fodder, and are best suppressed by 
drainage, liming, and cultivation. None are poisonous or aggressively in- 
jurious. 
-CYPERACE (SEDGE Fami_y). 
The sedges are grass-like plants with triangular stems, entire leaf 
sheaths, and the flowers in brown or dark coloured loose or dense clusters 
or spikes, separate male and female flowers in distinct or mixed clusters. 
