Large-flower wood-sorrel (Oxalis purpurea), a South African perennial bulb adopted as a garden ornamental. Typically flowering a bright magenta as seen here, white and pale-pink … Read the full post
Large Mediterranean Spurge (Euphorbia characias)
Large Mediterranean Spurge (Euphorbia characias), another beloved Eurasian garden filler with gloriously alien inflorescences and caustic latex sap. Tolerant of drought and high salinity levels, … Read the full post
Tree Aeonium (Aeonium arboreum)
Tree Aeonium (Aeonium arboreum), a Canary Islands native widely adopted into horticultural use and available in Melbourne from at least the 1850s. Aeonium is inherent … Read the full post
Cape Wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha)
Cape Wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha), a Western Australian relative of Acacia that has been distributed in European cultivation across the rest of the continent. Widely purported … Read the full post
Rambling Dock (Acetosa sagittata)
Rambling Dock (Acetosa sagittata), a long-lived perennial creeper from Southern Africa, naturalised in Australia and NZ. Rambling Dock was recorded in NSW from 1896, where … Read the full post
Inkweed (Phytolacca octandra)
Inkweed (Phytolacca octandra), a toxic Central American colonist of disturbed and low-nutrient sites. Similar to the American pokeweed that was popular as a medicinal tincture, … Read the full post
Annual Saltmarsh Aster or Aster-weed (Symphyotrichum subulatum)
Annual Saltmarsh Aster or Aster-weed (Symphyotrichum subulatum), naturalised on brackish wetland areas, riparian banks, irrigation canals, and seasonally wet sites throughout Victoria. Native to saline … Read the full post
Wireweed or Hogweed (Polygonum aviculare)
Wireweed or Hogweed (Polygonum aviculare), a European annual weed of roadsides, disturbed and trampled ground, and tilled fields. Usually presenting as a mostly prostrate clump, … Read the full post
Common Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Common Chickweed (Stellaria media), an annual Eurasian microgreen, herbal remedy and fresh chickenfeed. Stellarias can be distinguished from the related Cerastiums—the Mouse-eared Chickweeds—by the shape … Read the full post
Ruby Saltbush (Enchylaena tomentosa)
Ruby Saltbush (Enchylaena tomentosa), a native perennial groundcover growing as a pavement weed in outer Northcote. Ruby Saltbush is a drought and salt-tolerant, mat-forming groundcover … Read the full post
Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica)
Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica), a slow-growing, evergreen horticultural shrub from eastern Asia (and notably not from India). Tolerant of saline environments and disturbed soils, this … Read the full post
Climbing Groundsel (Senecio angulatus)
Climbing Groundsel (Senecio angulatus), another winter-flowering climbing aster from Southern Africa. Climbing varieties like this one were likely included in early horticultural imports of unidentified … Read the full post
Jade (Crassula ovata)
Jade (Crassula ovata), a staple succulent of topiary and floriculture, and a relatively unusual adventive colonist of rock exposures in Melbourne’s coastal and riparian hinterlands. … Read the full post
Cape Ivy (Delairea odorata)
Cape Ivy (Delairea odorata), a sickly sweet smelling smotherer of fencelines, coastal dunes and riparian understoreys. An environmental weed known elsewhere as Ivy-leaved Groundsel, this … Read the full post
Necklace Fern (Asplenium flabellifolium)
Necklace Fern (Asplenium flabellifolium), thriving on the bluestone-walled dry moat of a government building. A native fern of southern Australia and New Zealand, this is … Read the full post
Gorse (Ulex europaeus)
Gorse (Ulex europaeus), brilliant with golden spangles, Western European nitrogen-fixer and destroyer of worlds. Furnishing a fresh fodder for stock (palatable once milled of its … Read the full post
Variegated Ribbon Fern (Pteris cretica var. albolineata)
Variegated Ribbon Fern (Pteris cretica var. albolineata) kerbside in a Northcote drainage pit. Sold in Melbourne as early as 1873, the variety remains widely cultivated … Read the full post
Arum Lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica)
Arum Lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica), favoured Southern African cut flower and damaging invader of drainages, riparian edges and boggy landscapes. Not a lily at all, Arum … Read the full post
Ribbon Fern (Pteris cretica complex)
Ribbon Fern (Pteris cretica complex), a pantropical brake from Eurasia and Africa, established in an East Melbourne gutter box. Widely adopted as a cultivated shade … Read the full post
Garden Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
Garden Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) found fruiting this autumn in riparian positions on Edgar’s Creek in Reservoir and amidst the rockeries along the top of Treasury … Read the full post
Common Heliotrope or Potato Weed (Heliotropium europaeum)
Common Heliotrope or Potato Weed (Heliotropium europaeum), an accidental Eurasian import and major annual weed of southern Australia’s grain-growing regions, including the Victorian Mallee. Initially … Read the full post
Birds Nest Fern (Asplenium nidus complex)
Birds Nest Fern (Asplenium nidus complex), ferns of tropical and subtropical environments across the Indo-Pacific and favoured pot plants secretly yearning for freedom. Adopted globally … Read the full post
Bowie’s wood-sorrel (Oxalis bowiei)
Bowie’s wood-sorrel (Oxalis bowiei), a South African species named for a long-dead Kew Gardens collector, and a covert and rarely collected weed of Melbourne and … Read the full post
South American Goldenrod (Solidago chilensis)
South American Goldenrod (Solidago chilensis), a member of that prolific and striking lineage of predominantly Western Hemisphere asters, now established on suburban Melbourne streams. Goldenrods … Read the full post
Cobbler’s Pegs (Bidens pilosa)
Cobbler’s Pegs (Bidens pilosa), also known as Beggar’s Ticks, Farmer’s Friend, Blackjack, a cosmopolitan aster from the Americas that has been distributed globally, to the … Read the full post
Great Willow-herb (Epilobium hirsutum)
Great Willow-herb (Epilobium hirsutum), growing as a local infestation on the riparian edge of a pool on Skeleton Creek, just above where the Werribee railway … Read the full post
Soursob (Oxalis pes-caprae)
Soursob (Oxalis pes-caprae), blooming very early in a sheltered position at the Werribee River crossing of the Main Outfall Sewer. This alien wood sorrel poses … Read the full post
Lion’s Tail (Leonotis leonurus)
Lion’s Tail (Leonotis leonurus), a spectacular Southern African member of the mint family. Brought to Australia as a garden ornamental (the species was available from … Read the full post
Sword or Fishbone Fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia)
Sword or Fishbone Fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia), a pan-tropical fern that was likely indigenous to parts of NSW and Queensland, and has been introduced to other … Read the full post
Necklace Fern (Asplenium flabellifolium)
Necklace Fern (Asplenium flabellifolium), a native fern of southern Australia growing in colony on adjacent sections of bluestone retaining wall and balustrade in downtown Melbourne, … Read the full post