Fragrant False-garlic (Nothoscordum borbonicum), making its annual appearance this month at front fences across the metropolitan. Although an occasional pasture weed in Victoria’s north and … Read the full post
Hemlock (Conium maculatum)
Hemlock (Conium maculatum), a toxic Eurasian and North African carrot. AgVic’s public file suggests the plant was deliberately introduced to Australia, however as Hemlock is … Read the full post
Water Spiderwort (Tradescantia fluminensis)
Water Spiderwort (Tradescantia fluminensis), a notorious colonist of Melbourne’s creeklines and river valleys. Still known popularly in some quarters as Wandering Jew (also Wandering Trad, … Read the full post
Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum)
Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum), as a single spontaneous volunteer on railway embankment in Richmond. Naturalised in Australia around 1900, the first formal records of the … Read the full post
Pimpernel (Lysimachia arvensis)
Pimpernel (Lysimachia arvensis) of the scarlet variety. Commonly known to past generations as the shepherd’s or poor man’s weatherglass (for its weather-responsive flowers), this is … Read the full post
Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens)
Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens), an invader of shady damp in wetland and woodland complexes in the ranges and the southeast, and a fixture of river … Read the full post
Sticky Mouse-eared Chickweed (Cerastium glomeratum)
Sticky Mouse-eared Chickweed (Cerastium glomeratum). Featured previously on this channel, today’s post shows the detail of the plant’s flowers in full bloom. The plant is … Read the full post
Bachelor’s Buttons (Cotula australis)
Bachelor’s Buttons (Cotula australis), a native Australian colonist of damp areas where rocks or other obstructions exclude taller-growing plants, and a weed of similar urban … Read the full post
Dolichos Pea (Dipogon lignosus)
Dolichos Pea (Dipogon lignosus), another plant brought from the Cape Colony that is now a permanent part of the landscape of Melbourne and Victoria. Sold … Read the full post
Dew Flower (Drosanthemum candens)
Dew Flower (Drosanthemum candens), a South African member of the ice plant family that has sparsely established around Port Phillip Bay as well as on … Read the full post
Pregnant Onion (Albuca bracteata)
Pregnant Onion (Albuca bracteata) on a sandstone railway cutting. Like so many of Melbourne’s weeds, the plant is native to South Africa. However, excepting a … Read the full post
Red-flowered Mallow (Modiola caroliniana)
Red-flowered Mallow (Modiola caroliniana), a modest but pervasive colonist of damp and fertile sites of disturbance throughout Australia. This plant was ubiquitous in the vicinity … Read the full post
Soap Aloe (Aloe maculata)
Soap Aloe (Aloe maculata), established across approximately 50 metres of railway embankment at Spring Street. From the beginning, aloes and other succulents were made a … Read the full post
Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber ssp. ruber)
Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber ssp. ruber) about to bloom from within the sunken foundation well of a former food processing complex in the Ballarat area. … Read the full post
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima), growing in a novel and heavily sprayed weed ecology on the Jolimont railway embankments, alongside agaves, soursob and various weed grasses. … Read the full post
Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)
Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) ground zero at Lake Wendouree in Ballarat. Since appearing there in the early 1980s, this Eurasian plant has become a ubiquitous … Read the full post
Tall Willowherb (Epilobium ciliatum)
Tall Willowherb (Epilobium ciliatum), in fact known variously as Tall, Slender, Glandular, Fringed, Hairy or Northern Willowherb. Although there are a number of indigenous Epilobiums … Read the full post
Pale wood-sorrel (Oxalis incarnata)
Pale wood-sorrel (Oxalis incarnata), making its second appearance on the channel this year to acknowledge its complete annexation of this Northcote residential yard. The house … Read the full post
Long-headed Poppy (Papaver dubium)
Long-headed Poppy (Papaver dubium), also known distastefully as Blindeyes, growing in its natural Australian environment: railway ballast. A European native, it was reported naturalised in … Read the full post
English Daisy (Bellis perennis)
English Daisy (Bellis perennis), dainty evocations of sweet nostalgia, and environmental invaders of coastal, riparian and alpine communities. At Yarra Park, English Daisy is a … Read the full post
Capeweed (Arctotheca calendula)
Capeweed (Arctotheca calendula), fearsome, tiny, glorious invader of just about anywhere with sun, destroyer of worlds. In Yarra Park, and anywhere else you might choose … Read the full post
Sourgrass or Pink-sorrel (Oxalis articulata)
Sourgrass or Pink-sorrel (Oxalis articulata), a South American colonist brought to Victoria by 1855 (thanks J. and J. Rule, Richmond), recorded naturalised in NSW from … Read the full post
Freesia (Freesia leichtlinii x.)
Freesia (Freesia leichtlinii x.), South African-origin crocoids that occasionally find favour as spreading spring bulbs in Melbourne cottage gardens. Descendants of horticultural hybrids, they are … Read the full post
Four-leaved Allseed (Polycarpon tetraphyllum)
Four-leaved Allseed (Polycarpon tetraphyllum), in various growth forms and densities, another European microherb with colonies around the world. A ubiquitous weed of Melbourne’s urban margins … Read the full post
Mouse-eared Chickweed (Cerastium glomeratum)
Mouse-eared Chickweed (Cerastium glomeratum), one of Melbourne’s’s ubiquitous weed microherbs, which gush from every cracked surface and unconquered margin before anything larger can take over. … Read the full post
Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica)
Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica), in this instance resembling the cultivar ‘Excelsior’. Famous as a horticultural armada that has jeopardised the future of England’s native bluebell … Read the full post
Canary Island Pine (Pinus canariensis)
Canary Island Pine (Pinus canariensis), seedlings, with the last frame showing one of the parent trees. Exotic pines are a definitive character element of many … Read the full post
Dwarf Mallow (Malva neglecta)
Dwarf Mallow (Malva neglecta) in its tiny, shy glories. Originally from Europe and Western Asia, this prostrate or sprawling plant does about the same thing … Read the full post
Fairy Crassula (Crassula multicava ssp. multicava)
Fairy Crassula (Crassula multicava ssp. multicava), a common and ‘bulletproof’ succulent of Melbourne’s domestic gardens, and a capable coloniser of dry woodlands and rocky exposures … Read the full post
Fishtail Wood-sorrel (Oxalis latifolia)
Fishtail Wood-sorrel (<em>Oxalis latifolia</em>). Only recorded in Victoria from the 1940s, although it was present in other states from at least a somewhat earlier date, … Read the full post