Art. LI.—On the Presence of some Noxious Weeds in Nelson District.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 27, 1894, Page 407

Art. LI.—On the Presence of some Noxious Weeds in Nelson District. By R. I. Kingsley. [Read before the Nelson Philosophical Society, 12th March, 1894.] Arctvum minor, the lesser English burdock. This plant, to which attention has been called as being dangerous to stock eating it, is growing in several places. I have found it on the Fringe Hill, on the Dun Mountain track, on the Port Hills, in the Maitai Valley, and lately I noticed it growing luxuriantly at Ferntown, near the foot of the Colliery incline, and apparently spreading. Carduus arvensis, English corn-thistle (the so-called Californian thistle of settlers). This is growing in fair abundance on the Port Road, and also in Hastings Street, Nelson. The spreading of this plant would be a very serious calamity to the farmers of the district, for, being a perennial, and possessing a creeping rhizome, it is difficult to eradicate. In cornfields in England it sometimes, where it is plentiful, almost completely chokes the corn. Melilotus arvensis. A noxious weed—one that spreads rapidly, seeds abundantly, and that cattle will not eat. This is also growing on the Port Road.