432 DICOTYLEDONS AND CONIFERS 



he states that this "has increased of late years in light warm soils in 

 the Auckland district, and has become a troublesome weed in some 

 localities, particularly in certain market gardens at Onehunga." (Fl., 

 Jan. to March.) 



Lagenophora emphysopus, Hook. f. 

 Recorded from hills near Wellington by Buchanan and Kirk, and 

 from Banks Peninsula by Kirk. It is now abundant on Mount 

 Victoria, Wellington. (Fl., Jan. to April.) 



Tanacetum vulgar e, Linn. Tansy 



First recorded by Cheeseman in 1882 from the neighbourhood of 

 Auckland. In the Manual (1906) it is stated to be found in waste 

 places in both islands, not common. I have found it in Otago mostly 

 on roadsides in the neighbourhood of gardens and farm steadings. 

 (FL, Jan. to March.) 



In Europe the flowers are visited by Vanessa atalanta, Apis mel- 

 lifica, and Bombus terrestris. 



Artemisia Absinthium, Linn. Wormwood 

 First recorded in 1871 by Armstrong from Canterbury, and from 

 Wellington in 1877 by Kirk. In 1882 noted as an occasional garden 

 escape by Cheeseman from Northern Wairoa, vicinity of Auckland 

 and Matamata. In the Manual (1906) it is stated to be not uncommon 

 in waste places- and on roadsides in both islands. Its real abundance, 

 however, is in sheep pens and yards, wherever sheep are gathered 

 together for mustering, shearing, etc. The scarious margins of the 

 bracts cause the heads to adhere loosely to the wool, and the seeds 

 are thus dropped when the animals are crowded together. (Fl., Feb. 

 to April.) 



The fruit of wormwood when wetted becomes mucilaginous and 

 viscous. Kerner records an instance from his own observation of a 

 small owl {Athene noctua) which, in catching mice, brushed against 

 wormwood bushes, and when it flew away was all besmeared with 

 the fruits, which had been rendered sticky by a previous shower of 

 rain. 



Helichrysum cymosum, Less. 



First recorded from railway embankments near Westport, by 

 Townson, in 1906. 



Gnaphalium purpureum, Linn. 



First recorded in 1906 by Cheeseman in the Manual of N.Z. 

 Flora, as "not uncommon in drained swamps, freshly cleared lands, 

 etc., from the North Cape to the Upper Waikato, rarer southwards 

 to Wellington." 



