BRIDAL VEIL CREEPER

Asparagus declinatus

PROHIBITED MATTER – REPORT THIS WEED (02) 6623 3800

Description Fern-like scrambler or low-climber originally introduced as an ornamental plant.

Leaves Leaf-like cladodes (modified stems) arranged in dense groups of 3 alongside shoots off a main stem. Blue-green, soft, needle-shaped, 3–10 mm long and less than 1 mm wide.

Flowers Greenish white with six petals, 5–8 mm wide, solitary or in pairs, on stalks 5–11 mm long. Flowers from winter to mid-spring.

Fruit Spherical or ovate, about 8–15 mm long and 7 mm wide, light green and maturing to whitish or blueish grey. Contain 2–14 seeds per berry.

Stems Long, twisting stems up to 3 m in length, branching extensively.

Roots Dense mats of fibrous rhizomes and tuber, radiating out from the base of stems.

Dispersal Seed dispersed by birds and animals eating and excreting the seed. Also spread by seed and vegetative reproduction from rhizome fragments in contaminated soil, dumped garden waste or on machinery.

Confused with Other introduced Asparagus species.

Control Please do not attempt to treat or dispose of this weed yourself. Call (02) 6623 3800 if you see this plant anywhere in the Far North Coast region.

Kudzu

Pueraria lobata

LANDHOLDERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTROLLING THIS WEED

CONTAIN THIS WEED

Description Creeping, rapidly growing vine. Capable of forming dense mats and smothering plants up to 30 m high.

Leaves Compound, with three leaflets per leaf. Leaflets are 8–18 cm long and 6–20 cm wide, usually lobed, growing at right angles to the stalk.

Flowers Perfumed, pea-shaped, in clusters 10–40 cm in length. Individual flowers are 15-25 mm long and purple, blue, or pink with a central patch of yellow. Flowers from late spring to autumn.

Fruit Brown pods, 4–13 cm long and 0.6–1.3 cm wide, covered in fine hairs, containing 3–10 seeds.

Roots Expansive root system, up to 5 m into the ground, with large underground tubers.

Dispersal Seed dispersed by animals. Vegetative reproduction from stem fragments dispersed by waterways, contaminated soil, dumped garden waste and on machinery.

Confused with Native species Burny bean (Mucuna gigantea) and Dusky coral pea (Kennedia rubicunda)

Control This is not a reportable weed. Manually remove where appropriate. Ensure plant material does not contact the soil. Does not persist under grazing. Foliar spray with herbicide.