Caltrop (Tribulus terrestris), a pan-tropical creeper with decidedly immodest barbed burs which now terrorise fleece, hooves, paws, hands, feet and tyres across the Australian interior. … Read the full post
New Zealand Lacebark (Hoheria populnea)
New Zealand Lacebark (Hoheria populnea), an understorey tree bearing striking white swathes of autumn flowers, followed by winged seeds. A member of the Mallow family, … Read the full post
Narrow-leaved Bladder Ketmia (presumed Hibiscus tridactylites)
Narrow-leaved Bladder Ketmia (presumed Hibiscus tridactylites), a persistent weed of inland cropping, reclassified an Oz native in 2011. Long thought a naturalised or cosmopolitan outpost … Read the full post
Miniature Lupine (Lupinus ?bicolor)
Miniature Lupine (Lupinus ?bicolor), a tiny Californian lupine growing within incipient rip rap foothills meadow at Melbourne’s Cardinia Reservoir and apparently nowhere else in Australia. … Read the full post
Buchan Weed (Hirschfeldia incana)
Buchan Weed (Hirschfeldia incana), one of the many yellow-flowered Eurasian mustards that haunt this country’s roads, paddocks and landscapes and are often best differentiated at … Read the full post
Twiggy Turnip (Brassica fruticulosa)
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
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
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
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
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
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
False Strawberry (Potentilla indica)
False Strawberry (Potentilla indica), one of a number of species in a Rose-family genus adopted into herbal medicine and ornamental use. Native to monsoon Asia, … Read the full post
Cut-leaved Evening Primrose (Oenothera laciniata)
Cut-leaved Evening Primrose (Oenothera laciniata), an annual or short-lived perennial from the sand prairies of the eastern United States. Introduced in 1770 to English cultivation … Read the full post
Lesser Swine’s Cress (Lepidium didymum)
Lesser Swine’s Cress (Lepidium didymum), a South American member of the mustard family introduced to Europe by early colonial transfers, and from there to Australia … Read the full post
Hairy Willow-herb (Epilobium hirtigerum)
Hairy Willow-herb (Epilobium hirtigerum), an ephemeral Australian native plant whose lifeways flit between areas of disturbance. Hairy Willow-herb is adapted to exploit sites of short-lived … Read the full post
Sea Spurge (Euphorbia paralias)
Sea Spurge (Euphorbia paralias), a Mediterranean spurge introduced to Australian coasts and now actively transforming dune environments around the continent’s southern perimeter. Sea Spurge alters … Read the full post
Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa)
Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa), brought to Australia as grafting stock, a sometimes hedge and a domestic source of rose hip tea. Spread by birds and … Read the full post
Caper Spurge (Euphorbia lathyris)
Caper Spurge (Euphorbia lathyris), another latex-exuding Southern European ornamental selection, now naturalised in riparian woodlands throughout Southern Australia. Caper Spurge combined excellent vertical structure, drought-hardy … Read the full post
Myrtle-leaf Milkwort (Polygala myrtifolia)
Myrtle-leaf Milkwort (Polygala myrtifolia), a South African ornamental shrub and one of several dominant weeds in residential scrub around Port Phillip Bay, and on Mornington … Read the full post
Hoary Cress (Lepidium draba)
Hoary Cress (Lepidium draba), a Eurasian mustard globalised in the 1800s in contaminated seed and ship ballast. The first Australian infestation reportedly occurred at the … Read the full post
Tree Mallow (Malva arborea)
Tree Mallow (Malva arborea), a Mediterranean coastal shrub. Described in 1859 as very common in Australian gardens, the plant offered instant vertical colour; an 1886 … Read the full post
Hairy Abutilon (Abutilon grandifolium)
Hairy Abutilon (Abutilon grandifolium), a South American plant similar in appearance to various South Asian Abutilons, hence another common name ‘Hairy Indian Mallow’. Although there … Read the full post