62 



PASTURE PLANTS AND PASTURES OF N.Z. 



Section II. — Other Pasture Plants. 



Besides the Leguminosae there are a few other plants 

 used in conjunction with the grasses to form pastures. It 

 must be remembered that all the Leguminosae are more 

 important than they look, in that they feed the soil, as 

 weU as feeding the stock. This added importance does not 

 belong to the plants about to be mentioned. 



Yarrow {Achillea millefolium). — A well-known perennial 

 plant, with a creeping underground stem, so that it is usually 

 regarded as a troublesome twitch. The leaves are large and 

 are divided into very fine segments, so that they are almost 



fem-Uke. When crushed the 

 leaves have a distinctive aroma 

 usually considered pleasant. The 

 flower stalks are two or three 

 feet high, and the clustered 

 flowers are white, pink, or scarlet. 

 As mentioned above Yarrow 

 is, when it occurs on arable 

 land, considered a twitch. In 

 permanent pasture on second- 

 class land, however, it becomes 

 a somewhat valuable constituent 

 of the herbage. It produces a 

 moderate amount of feed, is quite 

 permanent, tends to fill up vacant 

 spaces, and is highly palatable to 

 sheep. This last fact often leads 

 to its importance being over- 

 looked. On certain lands then which are unploughable and 

 tend to become bare in dry seasons, so as to be occupied 



Pig. 33. — Yarrow, (after Fream). 



