368 DICOTYLEDONS AND CONIFERS 



Papaver somniferum, Linn. Opium Poppy 



First recorded in 1882 as a garden escape near Auckland by 

 Cheeseman. Noted by the author as fairly common iii 1885 in the 

 Clutha Valley in the neighbourhood of gardens. It has not established 

 itself anywhere as a wild species. (Fl., Jan. to Feb.) 



Argemone mexicana, Linn. 

 Mexican Poppy ; Yellow Poppy ; Prickly Poppy 



First reported from Taranaki in 1888; and again in Hawke's Bay 

 and Marlborough in 1894 by T. W. Kirk. 



Glaucium flavum, Crantz. Horned Poppy 



First recorded — zsG.luteum — -as widely diffused on shingly beaches, 

 near Wellington by Kirk in 1877; it is supposed to have been intro- 

 duced in the packing material of the patent slip machinery at Wel- 

 lington. Also recorded by W. W. Smith from Ashburton in 1903. 

 Cheeseman in the Manual of the N.Z. Flora (1906) states that it 

 occurs from East Cape and Wanganui to Cook Strait. Dr Cockayne 

 has collected it at the mouth of R. Awatere, Marlborough. It has 

 more recently appeared at Puketeraki in Otago, where perhaps it was 

 purposely sown. 



Guppy says that the mode of dispersal is problematical : 



" Its seeds have no proper buoyancy even after prolonged drying. On 

 account of their oiliness they will float at first on still water ; but they can 

 be made to sink at once, or in a day, by dropping water on them." (Fl., 

 Nov. to Jan.) 



Chelidonium majus, Linn. Celandine 



First recorded from Ashburton in 1903 by W. W. Smith. It also 

 occurs somewhat rarely in the neighbourhood of Dunedin. 



Eschscholtzia calif ornica, Chamb. 



First recorded by Kirk in 1877, from Castle Point in Wellington 

 provincial district. In 1879 Cheeseman reported it as covering the 

 greater part of a field at Panmure, Auckland. In 1882 it was common 

 in the neighbourhood of Auckland in light dry soils. Cheeseman 

 recorded it in 1906 as a garden escape in light dry soil in both islands. 

 It is thoroughly estabUshed as a noxious weed in dry parts of Marl- 

 borough, Otago and South Canterbury, for nothing will eat it. The 

 fruits are jerked off the receptacle when they are ripe. Hence it 

 spreads along made ground, such as railway embankments, but does 

 not progress over pastures to any great extent. The seeds apparently 

 require loose soil to germinate in. (FL, Dec. to Feb.) 



