POLYGONE^ 467 



of the rascality of an Englishman, who sold the seeds for those of 

 the tobacco plant." 



Colenso crossed the Ruahine Range in 1845, and speaking later 

 of the village of Te Awarua on the east side of the Rangitikei River, 

 which was then the centre of a great potato cultivation, says : 



In visiting these localities in after years, I was surprised to find such an 

 extensive and formidable growth of English docks (Rumex obtusifolius) 

 4-5 feet high and densely thick, so that in some places I could scarcely 

 make my way through them. On enquiry I found, when some of 

 these people had visited Whanganui to sell their pigs they had purchased 

 from a white man there some seed, which they were told was tobacco seed. 

 In their ignorance they took their treasure back with them, and carefully 

 sowed it in some of their soil, which they also had prepared by digging ; 

 and lo, the crop proved to be this horrid Dock; which, seeding largely, 

 was carried down the rivers and filled the country. 



The same iniquitous trick had also been played with the natives of 

 Poverty Bay, as early as 1837, when, at their request, I visited some young 

 plants they had raised from seed, fenced in and tabooed, believing them 

 to be tobacco. 



This is the commonest of all the docks, and is much the most 

 abundant species in the South Island. 



Dock {Rumex, any species) was included among noxious seeds in 



the Act of 1900, and was declared a noxious weed and included in 



the Second Schedule of the Act by Special Gazette Notice of 20th 



June, 1901. 



Rumex palustris, Smith 



First recorded by Kirk, on the authority of J. Buchanan, as having 

 been found at Wellington in 1872, but it was extinct in 1877. Then 

 it was reported by Armstrong in Canterbury in 1879. There are no 

 other records of its occurrence in New Zealand. 



Rumex crispus, Linn. Curled Dock 

 No doubt introduced by the settlers at a very early date, but first 

 recorded by Dieffenbach in 1839. His identification, however, is 

 doubtful. It is recorded in Hooker's Ust in 1864, and was generally 

 distributed in the north in i88o. Cheeseman in the Manual (1906) 

 reports it as abundant in fields and waste places in all parts of New 



Zealand. 



Rumex sanguineus, Linn. 



First recorded by T. Kirk in his list of naturalised plants in Great 

 Barrier Island in 1867, as R. viridis, Sibth., and again from WeUington 

 in 1877. Cheeseman in 1882 reports it as generally distributed in 

 the Auckland district. 



In the Manual (1906) it is stated to occur in fields and waste 



30 — 2 



