COMPOSITE 425 



(Fl., Jan. to March.) In Europe the flowers are fertilised by Apis 

 mellijica, Bombtis lapidarius, B. terrestris, B. hortorum, Eristalis tenax. 



Cnicus eriophorus. Roth. Woolly Thistle 



Reported from the Upper Wairarapa by Kirk in 1899. (FL, Jan. 

 to Feb.) Has not been recorded since. 



Cnicus palustris, Linn. March Thistle 



Recorded in 1 9 1 1 from Westland and Southland by the Agricultural 

 Department. 



Cnicus arvensis, Hoffm. Creeping Thistle ; Californian Thistle ; 

 Canadian Thistle 



The first record of this weed is in 1893 by R. I. Kingsley, who 

 reported it from the neighbourhood of Nelson, but it must have 

 been introduced much earlier. It came sporadically all over the 

 country in cultivated fields, creating great alarm in the minds of 

 farmers. Some tried to grub it out and so spread its rhizomes all 

 over their cultivations. Others built straw-stacks over the patches 

 of weed, while others sowed the ground with salt, thus temporarily 

 arresting its progress. But it rapidly spread throughout the whole 

 country, becoming particularly abundant and aggressive in half- 

 cleared bush areas. Though still looked on as a dangerous weed, 

 it is readily eaten by sheep at certain stages of its growth, and can 

 thus be kept to some extent in check. It is a dioecious species, but 

 farmers are slow to recognise the fact. 



The seeds are constantly found among agricultural seeds. 



The creeping thistle (but under the name of Californian thistle) 

 was one of the three plants declared a Noxious Weed by the Act of 

 1900, without any reservation. 



It flowers from Feb. to April. In Europe, the flowers are fertilised 

 by Apis mellijica, Bombus lapidarius, B. terrestris, B. hortorum, B. ru- 

 der attis, B. lucorum, Eristalis tenax, Lucilia ccesar, L. sericata, Calli- 

 phora erythrocephala, C. vomitoria and Stomoxys calcitrans. 



Silybum Marianum, Gaertn. Milk Thistle ; or Blessed Thistle ; 

 sometimes called Scotch Thistle 



First reported in 1871 from Canterbury by Armstrong. 

 In 1877 Kirk described the "blessed thistle" as "perhaps the 

 most characteristic of the naturalised plants of Wellington." 



"In Auckland," he says, "single specimens of this plant have been 

 known for the past fifteen years ; but, although they seeded freely, the seeds 

 had no opportunity of germinating," owing to the dense sward of grass, " so 

 that the thistle did not spread. A remarkable exception to this rule occurred 



