16 



Spergula arvensis, L. Order Cartophyllace^:. 



A common European weed in cornfields and cultivated 

 ground generally; it is known as " Spurry " or " Corn Spurry," 

 and seems to prefer light or sandy soil. Though sometimes a 

 troublesome weed, cattle and sheep are said to relish it and it 

 is thought to give a fiue flavour to mutton and - to enrich the 

 milk of cows, but it is not in England at any rate grown for 

 fodder or pasture. The plant was found by the writer growing 

 luxuriantly near Inchanga, and a specimen is in the Colonial 

 Herbarium ; it has also been seen in the upper districts, but 

 does not appear to be common. 



Stellaria media, Cyrill. Order Caryophyllacej:. 



This is the well-known " Chickweed," though one or two 

 quite different plants pass under the same popular name ; it 

 may easily be distinguished by the fact that the stems have a 

 line of hairs down one side which changes to the other side 

 whenever a pair of leaves is reached. It is a common weed 

 in Europe. 



Verbena tenara, Spreng. Order Verbenaceje. 



A low growing plant, apparently annual, about which little 

 is known to us except that it is a native of South America; it 

 was found by Mr. T. R Sim in the vicinity of Edendale; it 

 was certainly introduced here, but how or when is at present 

 quite uncertain ; it has not so far been found in any other 

 locality. 



Xanthium spinosum, L. Order Composite. 



This is the common " Burrweed," a noxious weed believed 

 originally to be a native of Chili, it has now become almost 

 cosmopolitan ; in South Africa it is of comparatively recent 

 introduction, since the genus Xanthium does not appear either 

 in the Flora Capensis^or. Harvey's Genera, which was published 

 in 1868, but now it is found almost all over South Africa, and 

 in each of the colonies laws have been passed for its extermina- 

 tion, but people do not seem to realise that if burrs have been 

 formed, then to cut down the plants and leave them is simply 

 useless, they should be burned off at once ; if no burrs have 

 formed they may be taken up by the roots and left on the spot 

 with safety. 



Xanthium strumarhjm, L. Order Composite. 



Very closely related to X. spinosum, but without spines 

 or light coloured markings on the leaves ; its burrs are quite 

 as injurious to wool as are those of X. spinosum, but it is of more 

 recent introduction having appeared here after the Zulu War 



