Alien Invader Plants
Izihlahla Zokufika Ezhlaselayo
Uitheemse Probleem Plante

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CONTROL:
Manual: Strip bark from 1m above ground to below soil level.  Remove all pieces of bark. Hand-pull seedlings. Press down disturbed soil.
Chemical: Basal Stem or Total Stump: use Garlon® 4 200mls or Tordon® Super 100ml/10l diesel. Cut Stump: Use Chopper® 1000ml/10l water.  Foliar Spray: use Garlon® 4 75ml or Roundup®, etc 150mls or Muster® 150ml/10l water. Biocontrol: Seed-feeding weevils released in Western Cape in 1995.

DESCRIPTION: Young branches slightly hairy with golden tips; compound feather-like dark green leaves; many raised nectar glands along the entire length of the leaf midrib; strongly scented pale yellow or cream flowers in pom-pom like flower heads at the ends of branches; pods flattened, jointed or slightly constricted between the seeds.  Flowering time: September to October.

ORIGIN: In 1864 seeds from Tasmania were planted in Camperdown to provide shelter and firewood, but by 1880 it was being cultivated commercially for its bark.

WHERE FOUND/PROBLEMS CAUSED: Widespread but usually only forms dense stands where water is plentiful.  Less common in the Drakensberg. Invades grassland, forest gaps, roadsides and watercourses.  Competes with and replaces indigenous vegetation; replaces grass and so reduces the carrying capacity of land; a weed in newly planted plantations.  Seeds remain viable for over 50 years.

DID YOU KNOW: Grown commercially for timber; a number of products are derived from its bark.  When it escapes from plantations it becomes invasive, and is thus included in the list of alien invader plants.  Mature black wattle does not coppice if cut down close to the ground.  Saplings may coppice but do not sucker from roots like silver wattle.

This page was last edited on 23 April, 2006