I 20 
T. G. B. Osborn. 
about Adelaide, but night-flying moths are numerous. Far more 
common are various Hymenoptera and Diptera which frequently 
visit flowers. 
Alien Plants. 
It is only to be expected that in the neighbourhood of a large 
city and the chief port of a State, alien plants should be numerous. 
This is the case in the vicinity of Adelaide where over 300 species 
are recorded as established. The country of origin of most of these 
plants is interesting. Black 1 gives the following records :—Europe 
generally, 128 ; Mediterranean region, 92 ; Cosmopolitan, 60 ; 
South Africa, 44 ; Temperate South America, 15. He remarks, 
“ It is noticeable that the plants which succeed best in the struggle 
for life are those which come from lands with climates resembling 
our own.” The ability of alien species to compete successfully 
with native plants is the subject of some discussion. It is popularly 
believed that in many cases the alien is able to establish itself so 
successfully as to oust the native plant. Cockayne, 2 writing of the 
phenomena to be observed in New Zealand, states that only where 
man has produced entirely new conditions can the alien succeed in 
doing so. In other places “invader and aboriginal have met and, 
though the original vegetation is changed, there is no reason to 
consider the one class or the other as the conqueror.” 
It is certainly true that as weeds of cultivation and of pasture 
many aliens have most successfully established themselves in the 
Adelaide district. Among the former Oxalis cernua, Antirrhinum 
orontium and Inula graveolens must be mentioned. Inula is specially 
noticeable in February and March, when whole paddocks may be 
covered by it so as to exclude other vegetation. The greater part 
of the pasture vegetation is composed of alien plants, and, as little 
or no attempt has been made to introduce grasses, weeds are very 
common. The “ Cape Dandelion ” ( Cryptostemma calendulacea) 
covers acres that in September are a sheet of gold with its blooms. 
Erodium moschatum, E. Botrys and Stachys arvensis form the chief 
plants over large areas. Many Mediterranean and South African 
bulbous or corm-producing plants are to be found, in places in such 
numbers as to be a pest. Such are Asphodelus fistulosus and 
Romulea cruciata, while species of Mores a, Sparaxis, Iris, Homeria 
and Muscari also occur. On certain parts of the hills Rosa rubiginosa 
1 Black, J. M. “Naturalised Flora of South Australia.” Adelaide, 
1909, p. 3. 
2 Cockayne, L. “ The Flora of New Zealand.” The New Zealand 
Handbook, 1912. 
