CONVOLVULACE^ 447 



probably this is also true, for most of the later migrations brought the 

 kumara with them. 'Horouta' came here at the time of the great migra- 

 tion; i.e. about 1350 a.d. 



Mr Elsdon Best writes me : 



The Kumara was introduced by Aotea, Arawa, Tainui and other immi- 

 grants twenty generations ago, but traditions say that the first to reach New 

 Zealand were fetched from Polynesia by voyagers who left Whakatane for 

 that purpose in a vessel called ' Te Aratawhao.' This was about twenty-four 

 generations ago, or say six hundred years. (1300 a.d.) 



The kumara is still largely cultivated by the Maoris, and they 

 have a good many varieties. It is not a wild species anywhere. 



Convolvulus arvensis, Linn. Small Bindweed 



First recorded by Armstrong in Canterbury in 1879. In the 

 Manual (1906) it is stated to occur, not uncommonly, in fields and 

 waste places in both islands. 



Cuscuta racemosa, Mart. 



Kirk reported this species as C. Hassiaca, PfeifF., in 1884, as 

 occurring in Canterbury, parasitic on lucerne, knot-grass, etc. It 

 does not appear to have been reported from anywhere else, nor has 

 it been found recently. This is a Chilian species, but was introduced 

 from California. 



Cuscuta Epilinum, Weihe. Flax Dodder 

 Apparently only recorded from Canterbury. 



Cuscuta Epithymum, Murr. Lesser Dodder ; 

 Clover Dodder 



First recorded in 1870 in Southland by the author on clover; and 

 by Kirk the same year in the Waikato district. When the cultivation 

 of red clover was greatly extended in the Canterbury Plains after the 

 introduction of humble-bees, dodder overran many parts. In 1901 

 A. Wilson reported it as common at the head of Lake Wakatipu, 

 parasitic on piri-piri (Accena). T. W. Kirk reports it in 1909 as 

 found on the following introduced species: red clover {Trifolium 

 pratense) , Alsike clover ( T. hybridum) , white clover ( T. repens) , Lucerne 

 {Medicago sativa), broom (Cytisus scoparius), gorse {Ulex europceus), 

 knotweed {Polygonum aviculare), dandelion {Taraxacum dens-leonis), 

 Canadian flea-bane {Erigeron canadensis), and ox-eye daisy {Chrysan- 

 themum leucanthemum). 



Clover dodder {Cuscuta Epithymum, var. trifolii) is included among 

 noxious seeds in the Third Schedule of the Noxious Weeds Act of 1 900 . 



