482 MONOCOTYLEDONS AND FERNS 



Aloa latifolia, Haw. 



First recorded by Cheeseman in 1882 as an escape from gardens 

 near Auckland. Same record in 1906. 



Asphodelus fistulosus, Linn. 



First recorded in 1868 by Kirk as growing at Mongonui; where 

 it was also reported as plentiful by Cheeseman in 1882. In the 

 Manual (1906) it is reported as not uncommon on roadsides and in 

 waste places from Mongonui to Napier. Townson also reports it 

 from Westport. 



Allium vineale, Linn. Crow Garlic ; Wild Onion 



Both Taylor (in Te Ika a Maui) and Polack state that "Marion 

 sowed garlick, which has taken possession of the Bay of Islands." 

 Captain Marion visited New Zealand in 1772. Darwin in 1835 says 

 of the Bay of Islands district: "a leek has overrun whole districts, 

 and will prove very troublesome; but it was imported as a favour 

 by a French vessel." Cheeseman reports it in 1882 as "not un- 

 common, especially in abandoned Maori cultivations, and sandy flats 

 near the sea." It seems to be confined to the Auckland provincial 

 district. Polack states that the natives cultivated the garlic in the 

 Kaipara district in 1831, but his identification is doubtful. 



In Europe the species is visited by Bombus lapidarius. 



Allium Cepa, Linn. Onion 



Captain Cook sowed onions in his newly-cleared gardens in Queen 

 Charlotte Sound in 1773, and they were found again when the spot 

 was revisited in 1777. 



Dieffenbach found them in native cultivations in New Plymouth 

 in 1839. 



Polack in 183 1 speaks of shallots as cultivated in the Kaipara 

 districts, and he distinguishes them from onions, which he also 

 specifically names. 



Allium Porrum, Linn. Leek 



This species also was among the seeds sown by Furneaux in 

 Queen Charlotte Sound in 1773. According to Buick: "it is said 

 that to-day in remote parts of the Sound, leeks are still to be seen 

 growing wild, the perpetuated progeny of those sown by Captain 

 Furneaux in 1773." Dieffenbach found them cultivated in native 

 gardens in New Plymouth in 1839. 



Polack found them cultivated by Maoris in Kaipara in 1831. 



