VERBENACE^ 463 



VERBENACE^ 

 Verbena officinalis, Linn. Vervain 



First recorded in Hooker's list in 1864. Then from several districts 

 in the Wellington provincial district in 1877 by Kirk. In the Manual 

 (1906) it is stated to be not uncommon in fields and on roadsides in 

 both islands. In many districts, especially in Taranaki, it has become 

 a troublesome pest. In Britain it is an erect, usually slender plant 

 from one to two feet in height. In Taranaki it is gigantic, and 

 Mr W. W. Smith has sent me specimens over 10 ft. high and with 

 stout straight stems. It covers acres of ground, and is harsh and 

 almost scabrid. 



In Europe the flowers are visited by Apis mellijica. 



Verbena bonariensis, Linn. 

 First recorded by Kirk in 1870 as occurring in the Auckland 

 district. Cheeseman in the Manual (1906) says it occurs rarely in 

 waste places in the Auckland district. In 1912 it was reported by 

 Carse as occurring near Kaitaia. 



Verbena hastata, Linn. 

 Recorded from Waverley in 191 1 by the Agricultural Department ; 

 introduced in American red-clover seed. 



Lantana Camara, Linn. 

 This weed, which is one of the commonest and most troublesome 

 pests in North-eastern Australia, is found wild in the neighbourhood 

 of Kohu-Kohu on the Hokianga River where it was first recorded 

 about 1895. It probably occurs in other parts in the far north as a 

 garden escape. Mr Maiden, Government Botanist for New South 

 Wales, informs me that in Queensland, where all attempts to check 

 the pest have proved unsuccessful, it has been found that land which 

 has been completely overrun by it has become permanently enriched. 

 In Hawaii special insects have been introduced to combat the increase 

 of the plant. 



PLANTAGINE^ 



Plantago major, Linn. Greater Plantain 

 No doubt introduced by the earlier settlers; first recorded by 

 Dieifenbach in 1839. Bidwill in his journey from Tauranga to 

 Rotorua and Taupo in 1839 says: "the common plantain is every- 

 where quite as general as in England ; not being an article of food, the 

 natives can tell nothing about how or when it came." He found the 

 species very abundant at Rotoiti, and he was the first European to 

 visit that locality. Hooker recorded it in his list in 1864, and in all 



