False Sowthistle (Reichardia tingitana), a fancy, sand- and salt-loving yellow aster from the Mediterranean and Middle East. A plant of coastal dunes and saline deserts … Read the full post
Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), a biennial Eurasian colonist of damp ground, introduced to Australia as a textile comb, grain contaminant and occasional ornamental and floriculture selection. … Read the full post
Common Thorn-apple (Datura stramonium)
Common Thorn-apple (Datura stramonium), a toxic annual member of the Nightshade family originating in C. America. Also known as the Devils Trumpet, as James Town … Read the full post
Stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens)
Stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens), an autumn-flowering annual aster with an aggressive aroma and Eurasian origin. Although the first Australian collection dates to 1876, Stinkwort was spreading … Read the full post
Trailing Snapdragon (Asarina procumbens)
Trailing Snapdragon (Asarina procumbens), a perennial snapdragon originating in the south of France where it grows in rock crevices. Broadly adopted as an ornamental selection, … Read the full post
Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), a Eurasian meadow mint turned cosmopolitan homesteader of temperate lawns and roadsides worldwide. Collected at Sydney as early as 1802, in those … Read the full post
Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca)
Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), an Argentinian perennial related both to cultivated Tobacco and Australia’s native Nicotianas. Highly toxic, it was introduced to Australia as an … Read the full post
Green Cestrum (Cestrum parqui)
Green Cestrum (Cestrum parqui), a toxic South American ornamental shrub that became a notorious killer of cattle in eastern Australia. Its seed is bird-distributed and … Read the full post
Yellow Glandweed (Bellardia viscosa)
Yellow Glandweed (Bellardia viscosa), a hemi-parasitic European broomrape spread to Australia in the late 19th century in contaminated grass seed. The species colonises paddocks, along … Read the full post
Cotton Fireweed (Senecio quadridentatus)
Cotton Fireweed (Senecio quadridentatus), a native Australian member of the genus demonstrating that its exotic cousins are not the only members of Senecio with capacity … Read the full post
African Thistle (Berkheya rigida)
African Thistle (Berkheya rigida), a fantastically prickled perennial aster introduced to Australian ports (and apparently no other global destination) in the ballast of empty ships … Read the full post
Paterson’s Curse (Echium plantagineum)
Paterson’s Curse (Echium plantagineum), a Western Mediterranean annual rendered iconic by the extent and impact of its Australian invasions. This colour out of space was … Read the full post
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare), a Eurasian medicinal herb and ubiquitous inland nuisance of grazed land and roadside throughout SE Australia. Unpalatable to sheep, with seed cases … Read the full post
Bluebell Creeper (Billardiera fusiformis)
Bluebell Creeper (Billardiera fusiformis), a Western Australian climbing shrub that has become a catastrophic success story following introduction to southeastern Australia as an ornamental native … Read the full post
Tobacco Nightshade (Solanum mauritianum)
Tobacco Nightshade (Solanum mauritianum), a South American shrub introduced to Australia as an ornamental selection, naturalised on that basis, and then distributed further as a … Read the full post
Laurestinus/Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus)
Laurestinus/Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) growing as a novel component in the damaged understoreys of Yarra Bend. Laurustinus was a core component of the Victorian garden toolkit, … Read the full post
Wild Sage (Salvia verbenaca)
Wild Sage (Salvia verbenaca), a Mediterranean steppe perennial introduced to Australia as a casual medicinal herb and a likely contaminant of imported seed or stock. … Read the full post
Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilfera ssp. monilifera)
Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilfera ssp. monilifera), this time profiling the presence of this invasive shrub aster in the inner metropolitan. The photographs here show the species … Read the full post
Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. monilifera)
Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. monilifera), a South African coastal shrub aster now more widespread in Australia and New Zealand than in its native range. Boneseed … Read the full post
Trailing African Daisy (Dimorphotheca fruticosa)
Trailing African Daisy (Dimorphotheca fruticosa), a showy South African aster that has springboarded back into ruderal ecology in an increasing number of Mediterranean climates around … 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
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
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
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
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
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
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), the cultivated South American intoxicant, growing as a fence weed in one of Collingwood’s mixed use streets. Experimentation with the cultivation of … Read the full post
Mexican Marigold (Tagetes erecta syn T. patula)
Mexican Marigold (Tagetes erecta syn T. patula), known as African or French Marigolds depending on the cultivar / chromosome count. An alien orange aster lovingly … Read the full post