Twiggy Turnip (Brassica fruticulosa), an endemic mustard of the Western Mediterranean and recent introduction to Australia. Unlike Mediterranean Turnip (Brassica tournefortii), whose interwar arrival posed … Read the full post
Giant Mustard (Rapistrum rugosum)
Giant Mustard (Rapistrum rugosum), an upright European annual that in good conditions reaches heights of nearly 2 m. This ‘Short-fruited Wild Turnip’ has a growth … Read the full post
Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)
Watercress (Nasturtium officinale), a feet-wet Eurasian perennial introduced intentionally to Australia. Watercress had not found popularity on the English table at the time of the … Read the full post
Field Mustard (Brassica rapa)
Field Mustard (Brassica rapa), a yellow-flowering turnip sometimes grown as a fallow or forage crop. This plastic Eurasian species has formed the genetic base for … Read the full post
Sharp Buttercup (Ranunculus muricatus)
Sharp Buttercup (Ranunculus muricatus), a southern European mainstay of damp verges and river muds. Included on the laundry list of common weeds proclaimed by the … Read the full post
One-leaf Cape Tulip (Moraea flaccida)
One-leaf Cape Tulip (Moraea flaccida), another South African bulb more extensive in Australia than its home province. Just when One-leaf Tulip joined the two-leafed Moraea … Read the full post
Hop Clover (Trifolium campestre)
Hop Clover (Trifolium campestre), another Eurasian legume introduced to Australia from the early years of the invasion in contaminated seed of other imported forage. The … Read the full post
Sweet Melilot (Melilotus indicus)
Sweet Melilot (Melilotus indicus), an aromatic Eurasian legume introduced as a pasture improver and seed contaminant. Equally useful and disastrous but lacking the technicolor calamity … Read the full post
Tiny Vetch (Vicia hirsuta)
Tiny Vetch (Vicia hirsuta), a miniature Eurasian and African annual introduced to Australia as fodder crop or seed contaminant. In the 1864 Flora australiensis, Kew … Read the full post
Small-flowered Onion Grass (Romulea minutiflora)
Small-flowered Onion Grass (Romulea minutiflora), a minuscule cousin of the standard saccharine Onion Grass (R. rosea). Also originating in South Africa, the Small-flowered Onion Grass … Read the full post
Onion Grass (Romulea rosea)
Onion Grass (Romulea rosea), the ubiquitous magenta stars that adorn Melbourne’s springtime lawns. Onion Grass is a plant that requires many more than 2200 characters, … Read the full post
White Fumitory (Fumaria capreolata)
White Fumitory (Fumaria capreolata), another of a genus of scrabbly annuals from Western Europe which infest the Melbourne springtime. Long treated as another variation of … Read the full post
Tall Fumitory (Fumaria bastardii)
Tall Fumitory (Fumaria bastardii), another from a group of familiar West European annuals which make themselves scrabbly nuisances of gardens, crops and damaged ground. A … Read the full post
Yellow-eye Wood Sorrel (Oxalis obtusa)
Yellow-eye Wood Sorrel (Oxalis obtusa), another of Melbourne’s strikingly coloured infestations from South Africa’s Western Cape province and Namaqualand. A relative of the ubiquitous Soursob … Read the full post
Wall Fumitory (Fumaria muralis)
Wall Fumitory (Fumaria muralis), one of a group of West European annuals which make themselves scrabbly nuisances of gardens, crops and damaged ground. Perhaps mostly … Read the full post
Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens)
Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens), an evergreen perennial relative of Forget-me-nots, true Alkanet (Alkanna) and other members of the Borage family. The species is distinguishable from … Read the full post
Spanish Heath (Erica lusitanica)
Spanish Heath (Erica lusitanica), shining springtime fixture and prominent invader of Victoria’s acidic hill country. Introduced to England from Spain and Portugal at an early … Read the full post
Wood Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica)
Wood Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica), a member of a diminutive genus long prized for its free-seeding, wild character on neglected English country estates. Numerous temperate Forget-me-nots … Read the full post
Lesser Snapdragon (Misopates orontium)
Lesser Snapdragon (Misopates orontium), a minuscule Mediterranean annual naturalised across Europe and in similar climates around the world. Reportedly a weed of English cornfields, Lesser … Read the full post
Cretan Trefoil (Lotus creticus)
Cretan Trefoil (Lotus creticus), a silvery, silken-leaved denizen of the Mediterranean strand, lately translocated to Melbourne’s exurban vacation dunes. Other than a scattering of more … Read the full post
Sicilian Sea Lavender (Limonium hyblaeum)
Sicilian Sea Lavender (Limonium hyblaeum), a cushion-forming endemic to Sicily’s rocky south-east coasts, only described as a separate species in 1980, by which time it … Read the full post
Narrow-leaved Cotton Bush (Gomphocarpus fruticosus)
Narrow-leaved Cotton Bush (Gomphocarpus fruticosus), a South African milkweed and accidental host for the Monarch (Wanderer) butterfly. Known here as Swan Plant (floated in water, … Read the full post
Peruvian Lily (Alstroemeria aurea)
Peruvian Lily (Alstroemeria aurea), one of a group of tuberous flowering plants native to South America which have been widely adopted into horticulture and floriculture … Read the full post
Square-stalked St. John’s Wort (Hypericum tetrapterum)
Square-stalked St. John’s Wort (Hypericum tetrapterum), a moisture-loving wort (i.e. medicinal root) from Europe. This plant has also been known as St. Peter’s Wort, although … Read the full post
Prickly Paddy Melon (Cucumis myriocarpus)
Prickly Paddy Melon (Cucumis myriocarpus) a bitter Southern African cucumber producing a myriad of tiny fruit. von Mueller made the first Australian collection of Paddy Melon … Read the full post
Banana Passionfruit (Passiflora tarminiana)
Banana Passionfruit (Passiflora tarminiana), an expert climber with edible fruit. Formerly planted more widely for the fruit (although this is often described as somewhat insipid), … Read the full post
St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum), a Eurasian perennial and herbal remedy widely established across temperate Australia. It is impossible to tell the story of St John’s … Read the full post
Italian Arum Lily (Arum italicum)
Italian Arum Lily (Arum italicum), known to past generations as the ‘Cuckoo-pint’, a green-flowering Mediterranean bulb of deep shade, and minor relative of the ubiquitous … Read the full post
Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum)
Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum), a striking Eurasian St. Johns Wort with a shrubby aspect and attractive red fruits turning black at maturity. Naturalised in New Zealand … Read the full post
Pelisser’s Toadflax (Linaria pelisseriana)
Pelisser’s Toadflax (Linaria pelisseriana), a slender purple-flowering member of Plantaginaceae originating in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Pelisser’s Toadflax was first recorded growing freely in … Read the full post