4o6 DICOTYLEDONS AND CONIFERS 



In many parts, especially of the North Island — though it is 

 abundant enough in the South also — this is considered to be the 

 most deleterious weed in New Zealand. All sorts of methods of 

 coping with it have been suggested, and in Taranaki especially, herds 

 of goats have been established to eat it down. But it continues to 

 spread everywhere, and the increase of fruit-eating birds is every- 

 where accompanied by an increase of this pest. 



Quail are reported from several localities in the North Island to 

 be very active agents in disseminating it. (Fl., Dec. to Jan.) 



Blackberry was one of the three plants declared a noxious weed 

 without any reservation in the original Act of 1900. 



Fragaria vesca, Linn. Wild Strawberry 

 Probably introduced by very early settlers. Polack in 1838 says: 

 "they over-run the soil on which they are planted." Dieffenbach, 

 in 1839, speaks of it as spreading over the country (at Matamata). 

 Cheeseman in the Manual (1906) says "an occasional garden escape, 

 not common." But I think it is rather more than that. Smith speaks 

 of it (1903) as "abundant in masses in many parts of the Ashburton 

 district, and I know that near Dunedin it is somewhat freely dis- 

 tributed by blackbirds and thrushes. Cockayne says it is common 

 amongst manuka near Taumaranui. (Fl., Oct. to Dec.) 



Fragaria elatior, Ehr. Hautbois Strawberry 



Kirk reports this species as wild in the Auckland district in 1869. 

 Cheeseman in his Manual (1906) says : "Has been noticed as a garden 

 escape, in both islands, but is much rarer than the preceding." One 

 reason of this I believe is that the species is often physiologically 

 (though not structurally) dioecious. (Fl., Nov. to Jan.) 



Herman Miiller states that in the United States cultivated species 

 of Fragaria incline to dicecism. The same thing is certainly true here, * 

 and I have seen beds of fine healthy strawberry plants which were 

 covered with bloom in the spring, but which did not set a single fruit. 



A writer in the Otago Witness on 31st October, 1892, complained 

 bitterly that strawberry growing was handicapped by the ravages of 

 the goldfinches. He stated that the birds picked the seeds out of the 

 growing fruit, and thus completely destroyed the berries. 



In Europe the flowers are visited by Apis mellifica and Musca 



corvina. 



Potentilla reptans, Linn. Cinquefoil 



First recorded from Wellington in 1877 by Kirk, then from Canter- 

 bury in 1879 by Armstrong, and by Cheeseman as occurring near 

 Hamilton in the Waikato. In the Manual (1906) it is stated to occur 

 by roadsides and in pastures, but to be local. (FL, Nov. to Jan.) 



