Part III 

 NATURALISATION OF PLANTS 



Chapter XI 

 DICOTYLEDONS AND CONIFERS 



Of the plants referred to in the following pages, over six hundred 

 species have become more or less truly wild, i.e., they reproduce 

 themselves by seed, and appear at the present time to be more or 

 less permanent denizens of the country. The great majority of them 

 have been brought in accidentally as seeds among other seeds, or in 

 hay, straw, and other packing materials. Some of them have been 

 introduced purposely as food or fodder plants, timber or ornamental 

 trees and shrubs, or ornamental flowers. Some have been introduced 

 for sentimental reasons, as very probably the briar rose was. In 

 addition to these I have referred to several species of plants which 

 have resisted all efforts — often long continued and numerous — ^to 

 naturalise them. 



It is seldom possible to assign definite dates for the first intro- 

 duction of plants into a foreign country, as can often be done with 

 animals. In the majority of cases the most that I can do is to give the 

 date of the first definite mention of their occurrence. 



Though isolated references to many introduced plants occur in 

 various publications ranging from Banks's Journal to more recent 

 times, the first list of such introductions appears to be in Sir J. D. 

 Hooker's Handbook to the New Zealand Flora, which was written in 

 1864, though not published till 1867. This contains the names of 

 165 species of plants, and includes most of the commonest weeds 

 and grass of cultivated land. A very large number of these were 

 recorded by Mr Thos. Kirk from the Auckland provincial district, 

 and were marked by an 'A' in Sir Joseph Hooker's list. Most of the 

 cereal and the commoner cultivated grasses were introduced in early 

 whaling days and by the first missionaries, that is between 1800 and 

 1820. Succeeding lists by Messrs Colenso, T. Kirk, Buchanan, 

 Petrie, Cockayne and many other observers have added to our know- 

 ledge of the alien flora, and to its spread in these islands. The most 



