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Weeds of Melbourne
Compiling a visual glossary of the weedy heritage of Melbourne, Australia.
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Copyright © 2022 .
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Buchan Weed (<em>Hirschfeldia incana</em>)

Buchan Weed (Hirschfeldia incana)

Format ImagePosted on January 5, 2022by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Brassica fruticulosa</em>)

Twiggy Turnip (Brassica fruticulosa)

Format ImagePosted on October 23, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Rapistrum rugosum</em>)

Giant Mustard (Rapistrum rugosum)

Format ImagePosted on October 21, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Nasturtium officinale</em>)

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)

Format ImagePosted on October 19, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Brassica rapa</em>)

Field Mustard (Brassica rapa)

Format ImagePosted on October 16, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Trifolium campestre</em>)

Hop Clover (Trifolium campestre)

Format ImagePosted on September 23, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Melilotus indicus</em>)

Sweet Melilot (Melilotus indicus)

Format ImagePosted on September 20, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Vicia hirsuta</em>)

Tiny Vetch (Vicia hirsuta)

Format ImagePosted on September 16, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Oxalis obtusa</em>)

Yellow-eye Wood Sorrel (Oxalis obtusa)

Format ImagePosted on August 24, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Lotus creticus</em>)

Cretan Trefoil (Lotus creticus)

Format ImagePosted on May 28, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Hypericum tetrapterum</em>)

Square-stalked St. John’s Wort (Hypericum tetrapterum)

Format ImagePosted on March 24, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Cucumis myriocarpus</em>)

Prickly Paddy Melon (Cucumis myriocarpus)

Format ImagePosted on March 19, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Passiflora tarminiana</em>)

Banana Passionfruit (Passiflora tarminiana)

Format ImagePosted on February 17, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Hypericum perforatum</em>)

St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Format ImagePosted on January 6, 2021by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Hypericum androsaemum</em>)

Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum)

Format ImagePosted on December 2, 2020by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Potentilla indica</em>)

False Strawberry (Potentilla indica)

Format ImagePosted on July 30, 2020by Weeds of Melbourne1 Comment on 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 (<em>Oenothera laciniata</em>)

Cut-leaved Evening Primrose (Oenothera laciniata)

Format ImagePosted on March 18, 2020by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Lepidium didymum</em>)

Lesser Swine’s Cress (Lepidium didymum)

Format ImagePosted on February 26, 2020by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Epilobium hirtigerum</em>)

Hairy Willow-herb (Epilobium hirtigerum)

Format ImagePosted on January 21, 2020by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Euphorbia paralias</em>)

Sea Spurge (Euphorbia paralias)

Format ImagePosted on January 13, 2020by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Rosa rubiginosa</em>)

Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa)

Format ImagePosted on November 20, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Euphorbia lathyris</em>)

Caper Spurge (Euphorbia lathyris)

Format ImagePosted on October 23, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Polygala myrtifolia</em>)

Myrtle-leaf Milkwort (Polygala myrtifolia)

Format ImagePosted on October 22, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Lepidium draba</em>)

Hoary Cress (Lepidium draba)

Format ImagePosted on October 18, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Malva arborea</em>)

Tree Mallow (Malva arborea)

Format ImagePosted on October 11, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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 (<em>Abutilon grandifolium</em>)

Hairy Abutilon (Abutilon grandifolium)

Format ImagePosted on September 24, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on 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

Cherry Plum (<em>Prunus cerasifera</em>)

Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera)

Format ImagePosted on September 17, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera)

Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera), a stone fruit native to the Balkans and to Western Asia, adopted and selected for its ornamental qualities (as well as  …  Read the full post

Geraldton Carnation Weed (<em>Euphorbia terracina</em>)

Geraldton Carnation Weed (Euphorbia terracina)

Format ImagePosted on September 10, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on Geraldton Carnation Weed (Euphorbia terracina)

Geraldton Carnation Weed (Euphorbia terracina), a Mediterranean perennial established across southern Australia as a weed of pasture, roadsides and bushland. Also called False Caper Spurge  …  Read the full post

Oval Heron’s-bill (<em>Erodium malacoides</em>)

Oval Heron’s-bill (Erodium malacoides)

Format ImagePosted on September 9, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on Oval Heron’s-bill (Erodium malacoides)

Oval Heron’s-bill (Erodium malacoides), a ‘mallow-leafed’ geranium native to the Mediterranean basin but spread to similar climates around the world as a contaminant of seed  …  Read the full post

Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill (<em>Geranium molle</em>)

Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill (Geranium molle)

Format ImagePosted on September 3, 2019by Weeds of MelbourneLeave a comment on Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill (Geranium molle)

Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill (Geranium molle), a Eurasian annual introduced to 19th century Australia as a contaminant of grain and fodder seed. This geranium has been noted  …  Read the full post

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