| Rules of Thumb: If it's attacked by insects, it's probably a native. If it's got minute flowers, it's probably a native. |
| Stat' | Notes | Thumbnails: 442. 107 introduced species listed, with 63 on Ellura |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Spiders, Scorpions, Mites & Ticks (Arachnida) - Introduced Species | |||||||
| Spiders Araneae | Daddy Long Legs Pholcidae | Long-bodied Daddy Long-legs Pholcus cf phalangioides | If e m |
| |||
| Spiders Araneae | Daddy Long Legs Pholcidae | Daddy Long-legs Smeringopus cf natalensis | If e m |
Thank you Mark Newton for identifying this species for us ~5-7mm. Very difficult to be certain of species, with out proper examination (as with many of the spiders here). This genus is unusual for a spider in that the male & female are the same size. | |||
| Spiders Araneae | Comb-footed Spider Theridiidae | Redback Latrodectus hasseltii iNaturalist | Ir e m a |
Thank you Anthony Paul for confirming the id of this species for us A poisonous spider that can be lethal, but very, very rarely. Poisoning usually occurs due to picking up material off the ground without gloves. They love corrugated iron. They are generally black with a dark red diamond shaped stripe on their abdomen which extends from the top all the way round underneath. The stripe goes bright red when threatened. Diagnostically only the red hour glass underneath is relevant. As such, they can be missing the red stripe on top, are often brown not black, and also often have white stripes. These originated in the North-western Deserts of South Australia. They have become cosmopolitan (ie travel with humans) to other locations outside their native range. | |||
| Spiders Araneae | Comb-footed Spider Theridiidae | Cupboard Spider Steatoda cf grossa | If a |
These will make you sick for a few days if bitten. It's related to the redback, so it's quite understandable. It's possibly a different species (as with the case with all our inverts), but S. grossa originated in Canada. | |||
| Mites Trombidiformes | Earth Mite Penthaleidae | Red-legged Earth Mite Halotydeus destructor iNaturalist | If e m a |
~1mm long | |||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) - Introduced Species | ||||||||
| Flies Diptera | Bush Fly Muscidae | Common House Fly Musca domestica iNaturalist | If e m r | Thank you Tony Daley & Sarah-Jayne Hucks
for confirming the id of this species for us ~6mm long. Very annoying little flies that keep pestering; trying to fly into your eyes, ears, mouth, etc. | ||||
| Flies Diptera | Bot Fly Oestridae | Sheep Nasal Bot Fly Oestrus ovis iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Dr Chris Lambkin for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Flies Diptera | Hover Fly Syrphidae | Wasp-mimicking Hover Fly Ceriana ornata ssp ornata iNaturalist | Ir e m | Thank you Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us This is primarily a Qld species that invades bee hives. As we have no native bee hives in SA, we suspect they've travelled south using/breeding/surviving thru European bee hives. Andras Szito (WA DPIRD) said "I believe your suspicion is well founded. I am aware of (sometimes large scale) movement of used bee hives between the states. If some brought in some used, uncleaned hives with some dead combs in them from Qld where Ceriana is quite common then there is a high likelihood that there were viable Ceriana in it. I guess it is well adapted to European bee hives that contains a lot greater amount of honey than native bees." Thanks for your thoughts Andras ergo It is also introduced. | ||||
| Ant Bee Wasps Hymenoptera | Long-tongued Bee Bee: Apidae | European Honey Bee Apis mellifera iNaturalist | If e m a c |
Thank you Dr John Ascher, Frank Prinz, Terra Occ & HowardDC for confirming the id of this species for us Most people think of these insects in a positive light, but like all introduced species are an environmental headache and should be eradicated where possible. Please don't allow bee keepers to use your bush block for bees. Would you allow someone to plough your native vegetation to grow crops? European Bees are just as devastating, but the damage is hidden (eg using up precious hollows used by our birds and reptiles), spreading over many kilometres to neighbouring properties & reserves. Our native bees are also less aggressive and solitary (in SA). If you thought all European Bees don't look alike, you'd be right. Peri Coleman said "There are three main races of bees in Australia, and a very few of two other races. Main races used by bee keepers: 1. Italian (yellow banded): have 5 yellow bands, but the Ligurian sub-race has less than 5 yellow bands & have a yellow queen. The Ligurian bees of Kangaroo Island are a sub-race of Italian bees, and the early settlement bees were blackish coloured "Black Germans", but I don't know if any of these are still cultivated 2. Caucasian (bigger, grey): are dark grey, hardly banded at all, and have a long body 3. Carniolan (smallest): have creamy light bands which gives them a greyish look, and are smaller than Italians. They have a dark queen. Quarantine in North Queensland keeps a close eye out for Asian honeybees as they are likely to bring in Nosema disease. It is considered they are most likely to get here via shipping to a northern port or by island hopping from New Guinea." | ||||
| Ant Bee Wasps Hymenoptera | Potter Wasp Wasp: Vespidae | European Wasp Vespula germanica iNaturalist | If a |
Thank you Mark Hura & Dave Holland for confirming the id of this species for us There are two very similar introduced wasps in South Australia. This one & the much less common English Wasp (Vespula vulgaris). You probably couldn't tell the difference between them with the naked eye. But with photo's the difference becomes evident. This one has a solid yellow band behind the eye; V. vulgaris has a black patch in the band behind the eye. This one has a thin vertical black line on the face with a black dot either side in the yellow; V. vulgaris has a fat vertical black line on the face with no dots. The queen looks the same as the worker, with the only reliable differentiation being size. The queen ~20mm long; while the worker is ~14mm long. The big surprise for us after photographing one was realising how hairy they are. The look very smooth and hairless with the naked eye. They are one of the most aggressive wasps in Australia; attacking just because you are too close to YOUR picnic lunch. Probably second only to the European Honeybee. Thank you to Dave Holland for pointing out that males have long antenna and 7 terga of abdomen rather than 6; and are stingless. | ||||
| Cockroaches Blattodea | Cockroach Blattidae | Oriental Cockroach Blatta orientalis | If a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Ladybird Coccinellidae | Variegated Ladybird Hippodamia variegata | If e m | As it's name suggests, a very variable species. Usually with white stripes on it's pronotum, but sometimes not. Introduced from Europe and used as a biological control of cotton aphids in crops, it is now wide spread and an environmental pest. Our apologies for the moth scales interfering with these photo's. They were shed in the container by the previous occupant, not part of this species. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | True Weevil Curculionoidea: Curculionidae | Sitona Weevil Sitona discoideus | If e m | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Skin Beetle Dermestidae | Varied Carpet Beetle Anthrenus verbasci iNaturalist | If e m a | Similar Species: Brown Globular Springtail (Symphypleona sp ES01) Thank you Lila (fairypossum) for confirming the id of this species for us A small beetle, ~3mm long, that has cost millions to protect against severely damaging the world's museum specimens. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Scarab Beetle Scarabaeidae | Sandy Dung Beetle Euoniticellus fulvus | If a | |||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Egyptian Beetle Blaps polychresta iNaturalist | If e m c |
Thank you Dr Chris Lambkin & Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us Large black beetle, approximately 35mm (40mm including elytra extension) long, with a projection out the rear end of the elytra. We photographed 3 specimens in Feb & Mar. | ||||
| Beetles Coleoptera | Darkling Beetle Tenebrionidae | Little Sardinian Beetle Cheirodes sardous iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us ~5mm long. We suspected they were introduced as we found them in the kitchen and assumed they had transported in from flowers or veggies. But the records showing distribution seem higher in Southern Australia than the rest of the world; indicating they originated here. Mark said "Introduced here from Nthn Africa/Mediterranean. The first records of it here are from WA in the 1920's and they have been recorded here in SA since the 1960's" We also found a couple of records from Victoria in 1943. This implies it's been in SA longer than we thought. We'd expect them to travel thru SA from WA toward Victoria; unless it was a separate introduction. Interestingly these seem rare in their countries of origin ... perhaps we can catch them & ship them back Photographed 8 in Sep. | ||||
| True Bugs Hemiptera | Leafhopper Hopper: Membracoidea, Cicadellidae | Tamarix Leafhopper Opsius stactogalus iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Solomon Hendrix for identifying this species for us Here's an Australian gov' site: NSW DPI The antennae are quite long and thin with these (you have to look closely at the 1st photo to see it). There are slight differences with above link and our photo's but this could be due to head tilt & dead vs alive specimens. | ||||
| Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera | Oecophorid Moth :Gelechioidea Oecophoridae | Brown House Moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella iNaturalist | If a | Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera | Leaf Miner :Gracillarioidea Gracillariidae | Echium Leaf Miner Dialectica scalariella iNaturalist | If a | Thank you Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera | Plume Moth :Pterophorioidea Pterophoridae | Horehound Plume Moth Wheeleria spilodactylus iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Donald Hobern for confirming the id of this species for us ~9mm long, ~17mm natural wingspan. It has striped legs and striped wings. | ||||
| Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera | Grass Moth :Pyraloidea Pyralidae | Greater Wax Moth Galleria mellonella iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us ~14mm long, ~33mm wingspan. We found one in November | ||||
| Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera | Grass Moth :Pyraloidea Pyralidae | Indian Meal Moth Plodia interpunctella iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us ~7mm long, ~17mm wingspan We found one in December | ||||
| Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera | Diamondback Moth :Yponomeutoid Plutellidae | Cabbage Moth Plutella cf xylostella | If a |
Thank you Alan Melville for confirming the id of this species for us This introduced species is highly variable in it's colours. The antennae always have banding, however, and point forward. | ||||
| Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera | Brown Butterfly Papilionoidea: Nymphalidae | Foreign Wanderer Danaus plexippus iNaturalist | If e m a |
Thank you Alan Melville for confirming the id of this species for us While this butterfly comes from the Americas. It's only food source is the introduced Milkweed. There is some discussion if it arrives under it's own steam to the Eastcoast of Australia. Even so, it wouldn't be able to propogate without the weed. Regardless, it's not native to SA. | ||||
| Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera | White & Yellow Butterfly Papilionoidea: Pieridae | Small Cabbage White Pieris rapae iNaturalist | If e m a |
Thank you Matt Endacott, Karen Weaving & Leon Crang for confirming the id of this species for us Males have one black spot per forewing, while females have 2. They both have one spot on each hindwing. This is not obvious and it's easy to confuse the male's forewing spot and hindwing spot as 2 spots on one wing; looking like a female. Larvae are green, with a pale yellow/green line along it's back. Yellow spotting around it's spiricles and 4 tiny ocelli (eyes) per side. | ||||
| Earwigs Dermaptera | Earwig Forficulidae | European Earwig Forficula auricularia iNaturalist | If e m a p | Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us ~14mm long plus pincers are a further ~7mm. Found in the kitchen, so most likely came from produce (fresh vegetables). | ||||
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Crustaceans (Malacostraca) - Introduced Species | |||||||
| Peracarid Crustaceans Isopoda | Terrestrial Crustacean Armadillidiidae | Pill Bug Armadillidium vulgare iNaturalist | If a |
Thank you Grant Schiermeyer for confirming the id of this species for us Interestingly, Atlas only has 2 species described in this family and they are both introduced. Notice the trapezoidal telson of this family mentioned by Grant above. We think the colour variation is due to the specimen #4 recently moulting. Specimen #7 is the colour of an older specimen. | |||
| Peracarid Crustaceans Isopoda | Terrestrial Crustacean Porcellionidae | Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Matt Campbell for confirming the id of this species for us ~10mm long | |||
| Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Ray-finned Fish (Actinopterygii) - Introduced Species | ||||||
| Minnows Cypriniformes | Carp Cyprinidae | European Carp Cyprinus carpio iNaturalist | If r | Thank you nj852 for confirming the id of this species for us This one was 4kg, a large fish. These fish have destroyed the Murray River. Once a clear watered river, it's now murky as these fish filter thru the silt on the river bed looking for food, constantly stirring up the silt. | ||
| Toothcarps Cyprinodontiformes | Livebearer Poeciliidae | Eastern Mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki iNaturalist | If m | Thank you meta4 for identifying and Fubberpish for confirming the id of this species for us fubberpish said "Yep, bloody things are everywhere, they're a massive problem. they're super hardy fish, produce massive amounts of young very quickly and only take a few months to reach breeding age, so they are able to multiply extremely rapidly and survive in just about any body of fresh water. they were deliberately introduced to eat mosquito larvae - except native Australian fish like the Empire Gudgeon are actually better at mosquito control than the Mosquitofish!" | ||
| Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Birds (Aves) - Introduced Species | ||||||||
| Doves and Pigeons Columbiformes | Dove and Pigeon Columbidae | Spotted Turtle-dove Streptopelia chinensis iNaturalist | If c | Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Doves and Pigeons Columbiformes | Dove and Pigeon Columbidae | Laughing Dove Streptopelia senegalensis iNaturalist | If |
Thank you Thomas Mesaglio for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Perching Birds Passeriformes | Weaver-finch Estrildidae | Chestnut-Breasted Mannikin Lonchura castaneothorax iNaturalist | Ir a | Thank you Brendan Duggan for confirming the id of this species for us The 2 reasons for adding this, primarily Queensland, species are that
| ||||
| Perching Birds Passeriformes | Sparrow Passeridae | House Sparrow Passer domesticus iNaturalist | If e m a c | Thank you George Seagull for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Mammals (Mammalia) - Introduced Species | |||||||
| Even-toed Ungulates Artiodactyla | Cloven-hoofed Mammal Bovidae | Feral Goat Capra hircus iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Antoni Camozzato for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Placental mammals Carnivora | Canine Canidae | Red Fox Vulpes vulpes iNaturalist | If e m a |
Thank you Geoffrey Cox for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Placental mammals Carnivora | Cat Felidae | Feral Cat Felis catus | If e m a r c | ||||
| Kangaroos & Wombats Diprotodontia | Koala Phascolarctidae | Koala Phascolarctos cinereus ssp victor iNaturalist | Ir a | Thank you Terra Occ for confirming the id of this species for us While considered cute and cuddly, wild animals should not be approached. Animals that people hold in zoo's are tame. As with any large wild animal, they can inflict severe injuries if cornered. Having said that, they are not openly aggressive. A male's mating call is a loud, deep, sickening sound. It's a much bigger sound than their size suggests. This is on purpose; the ladies like their boys to be big, so the boys oblige They love stringy bark gum trees. We also often see them walking on the roads through the Adelaide Hills. You may think we've made a mistake ... of course Koala's aren't introduced! Well, yes they were; locally at least. Introduced to the Adelaide Hills in the middle of last century. So while an Australian native, not a native where these photo's were taken. This can be related to Cootamundra Wattle. A NSW native, now an "introduced" weed species in the Adelaide Hills. Similarly, can you image the destruction this species has caused to the local native environs. It's not their fault of course, should never have been located there in the first place. But Tourism is a powerful motivator in our Society. | |||
| Hares & Rabbits Lagomorpha | Hare & Rabbit Leporidae | European Hare Lepus europaeus iNaturalist | If e m a |
Thank you Sea-Kangaroo for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Hares & Rabbits Lagomorpha | Hare & Rabbit Leporidae | Feral European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus iNaturalist | If e m a |
Thank you Josh Magro for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Rodents Rodentia | Murid Muridae | Western European House Mouse Mus musculus ssp domesticus iNaturalist | If e m a | Thank you Antoni Camozzato for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Rodents Rodentia | Murid Muridae | Black Rat Rattus rattus iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you JosefNR for confirming the id of this species for us ~150mm long. It seems their tail is diagnostic. We are amazed we get such large, introduced animals out here in near desert Australia. | |||
| Animals (Animalia) - Molluscs (Mollusca) - Gastropods, Slugs, And Snails (Gastropoda) - Introduced Species | |||||||
| Land Snails & Slugs Stylommatophora | Typical Snail Helicidae | Garden Snail Cornu aspersum iNaturalist | If e m a | Thank you Thomas Mesaglio & Dr Kevin Bonham AM for confirming the id of this species for us The shell was ~28mm long & ~23mm high. 4 eye stalks. They don't seem to have an obvious umbilicus (centre hole). They are very variable in colour & pattern making id difficult. We normally mirror some images to always have the head point to the left. Kevin said "As snails and slugs are not symmetrical it is best not to reverse photos of them as genuinely reversed specimens are very rare natural freaks." As such, we have now put them all in there natural orientation. We photographed 3 specimens in Apr & Dec. | |||
| Land Snails & Slugs Stylommatophora | Small Land Snail Hygromiidae | Common White Snail Cernuella virgata iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Mike Burrell, Kevin Huang & Dr Kevin Bonham AM for confirming the id of this species for us These are easily confused with another introduced snail, the White Italian Snail (Theba pisana). The centre hole (the umbilicus) is covered, or nearly covered, with T. pisana. So a photo of the umbilicus is requred for definate identification. It was how we were able to id these specimens. Matt Parr from iNaturalist says that T. pisana has a flatter top/spire and more inflated shell than Cernuella virgata. Thanks Matt | |||
| Land Snails & Slugs Stylommatophora | Keelback Slug Limacidae | Threeband Slug Ambigolimax sp iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Dr Kevin Bonham AM for confirming the id of this species for us It's not possible to separate these into species with dissection. We asked Kevin if this might be native. He said "All Ambigolimax in Australia, and anything else that looks like them, are introduced." When we querried the hole in it's side he said "That hole is the pneumostome or breathing pore. Normal feature." It's so weird that it's only on one side! We photographed one in May. On another obs, when comparing Limax sp to these, Kevin said "Limax often have well-defined stripes on the tail end but typically not on the mantle. There are a few here and there where the spotting on the mantle forms into irregular stripe-like markings, generally broader than on Ambigolimax. Some other differences include that the end of the tail in Limax tends to be sharply keeled and also the tubercles (ridges) on the tail end of Limax tend to be serrated-looking." | |||
| Fungi (Fungi) - Basidio (Basidiomycota) - Mushroom-forming Fungi (Agaricomycetes) - Introduced Species | ||||||
| Gilled Fungi Agaricales | Mushroom Amanitaceae | Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria iNaturalist | If a | Similar Species: Vermilion Grisette (Amanita xanthocephala) Thank you CesDaMess & Konan Farrelly-Horsfall for confirming the id of this species for us | ||
| Fungi (Fungi) - Chytridio (Chytridiomycota) - Rust Fungi (Chytridiomycetes) - Introduced Species | |||||||
| Rusts Chytridiales | Crowfoot Rust Synchytriaceae | Common Crowfoot Rust Synchytrium papillatum iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Sofia Zvolanek for confirming the id of this species for us This rust is growing on Common Crowfoot (Erodium cicutarium) which is an introduced species. We believe each species of this type of fungus evolves to only grow on one plant species. As such, this species of fungus must also be introduced? | |||
| Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida) - Introduced Species | |||||||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Capeweed Arctotheca calendula iNaturalist | If e m a | Thank you Dianne Clarke for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Saffron Thistle Carthamus lanatus iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us A few scattered plants found & removed from Ellura VERY prickly & stiff plant at all stages. Tall, green with cream/yellow flowers. Prickles will go straight through leather gloves, weed bags, etc. | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Maltese Cockspur Centaurea melitensis iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us A spindly thistle with small, spiny flowers and stiff, tall habit | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Skeleton Weed Chondrilla juncea iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us Often looking leafless, these aptly named weeds are noxious flowering in summer. Yellow flower, with ridged buds, and a smooth stem. The basal leaves often dying off early leaving no trace. ~300mm high, with ~20mm diameter flowers & buds ~10mm long. | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Flaxleaf Fleabane Erigeron bonariensis iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us Mature plant is ~300mm tall; single stemed with flowers bunching at the top. The flowers don't have petals. | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Gazania Gazania x splendens iNaturalist | If e m a |
Thank you Steven Molteno for identifying and Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Scotch Thistle Onopordum acanthium | If e m |
Larger & bushier than Saffron, harsh and prickly. Purple flowers |
| ||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Stemless Thistle Onopordum acaulon iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Kai-Philipp Schablewski for confirming the id of this species for us Scattered seedlings have been found & removed. All clear at this stage. Seedlings are soft and easy to handle. Mature plants are very prickly & large, making removal difficult. Slow growing and easy to find seedlings with regular inspections. Silver grey in colour and has no discernible stem | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | False Sowthistle Reichardia tingitana iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Alan Dandie
for confirming the id of this species for us In South Australia the maroon centre is diagnostic for this species. Shown here are examples to show variation, you through struggling to thriving. Notice the young flowers have less maroon than the older ones. Notice the unusual habit of stamen coming from behind the inner petals. No full seed shot as we never let them get that far if we can help it. They are victim, fortunately , to grazing, so sometimes tall and sometimes quite short. They love our heat and can withstand the low rainfall, but then in years like this (2022) where we've had 411mm to the end of Nov, they are flourishing. They are all coming out of the woodwork, but fortunately stand out in the crowd so easy to spot to remove. We thought they had gone, but no, clearly a long lived seed bank survives. | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Creeping Groundsel Senecio angulatus iNaturalist | If a | Thank you InsideRelic for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Prickly Sow Thistle Sonchus asper iNaturalist | If e m a | Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Sunflowers Asterales | Daisy Asteraceae | Sow Thistle Sonchus oleraceus | If e m |
|
| ||
| Asparagus Asparagales | Orchid Orchidaceae | African Orchid Disa bracteata | If a |
A very invasive weed that's difficult to eradicate. Partly because they ALWAYS have two tubers. The first one comes up with the plant fairly easily, the second not so much. The second bulb will continue the plants life if not removed. Once the flower head has seeded it's very difficult to extract the plant without spreading seed further. The only way we know is to very genlty tilt the plant into a plastic bag (without any sudden movement) to catch anything that falls off and then dig it up. It's quite possible that cut & spray will work, but we haven't tried that. | |||
| Asparagus Asparagales | Asphodels Asphodelaceae | Onion Weed Asphodelus fistulosus iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us #1 Enemy: Loves 250mm/yr rainfall. We have erradicated it. We still see new seedlings in "good" years, but in new locations, so brought in from neighbouring areas by wildlife. Will decimate an area, regardless of grazing, killing saltbush, zygophylum, etc, as it goes. Vigorous; will germinate, flower and seed within 3 weeks in spring. ~90% of seed germinates in first year in our area. Resilient: never leave removed plants on the ground. They will flower & seed (out of the ground)! Hard to poison. Needs good wetting agent. We're convinced Onion Weeds are Allelopathic; ie exude Allelochemicals to inhibit further germination of it's own seed. We found when we pulled all our large plants from Ellura in one season, they were then replaced the following season with millions of seedlings. Thanks to David Armstrong for letting us know about this phenomenon. We recognised it existed with onion weed, but didn't realise it was a recognised phenomenon; let alone had a name. We've written a discussion paper on this to help you control your outbreak. Click here to download (it's about 2.7mb) Updated 11 AM, 06 April 2014 The photo's here are explained in more detail in the discussion paper. You can see Brush Cutting (not on Ellura) only stopped it seeding, but grew over a hot dry summer. The Before & After photo's of our worst 3 acre patch on Ellura, after 12m of hard work. With the experiment of a seedling patch, you can see poisoning had the best results, after 2 months. | |||
| Asparagus Asparagales | Iris Iridaceae | Thread Iris Moraea setifolia iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Alan Dandie & Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us Invasive throughout the region. Difficult to eradicate due to their thin leaf. Wombats like the bulbs and plough the soil searching for the them. This is not natural behaviour for them and is very destructive to the soil crust and natural order of things. Competes with native grasses. Has a single pale purple flower and two grass-like leaves (often one dries early leaving only one leaf). While it looks nothing like it many people think it's nut grass. Probably because the bulbs are like nuts and the few leaves are very grass like. The flower is a dead give away it's not grass. Kangaroos eat the dried leaves in summer. Possibly because other food is more scarce; or because it's weaker & easier to chew once it's died. It's leaves are incredibly strong & thin. When trying to pull out other weeds if you accidentally grab a Thread Iris leaf as well, you'll have no chance of getting either out. The green leaf is toxic to stock. Consumption of 1kg of green leaves will kill a cow within 24 hours. Wombats don't seem to be able to digest it very easily, so fill up on it and can starve to death if native grass food sources are not available. | |||
| Asparagus Asparagales | Iris Iridaceae | Guildford Iris Romulea rosea var australis | If a |
NB: It's an iris, not a grass, so the old common name is very misleading | |||
| Asparagus Asparagales | Iris Iridaceae | Guildford Iris Romulea rosea var communis | If m a |
| |||
| Asparagus Asparagales | Iris Iridaceae | Guildford Iris Romulea rosea var reflexa | If a |
| |||
| Carrots Apiales | Carrot Apiaceae | Grey Hare's Ear Bupleurum semicompositum iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Darren Schmitke for identifying and Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us A simple thank you just isn't enough. We didn't even know where to start with this species and Darren spent many evenings investigating it. After we had given up, and Darren almost had, he found it. We were elated and disappointed at the same time. Elated the puzzle was solved, but disappointed that after all that work it turned out to be an introduced species. Here's hoping that by being on this web site it helps others know they can remove it; and Darren's work will be put to good use. It occurs primarily in disturbed locations on Ellura and may be useful to reduce erosion while natives reclaim their ground. It's heaviest where we've removed heavy investations of onion weed, but doesn't have anywhere near the destructive properties of onion weed. As such, it's weak and natives are stronger. It is classed as "Naturalised" (a term we despise) and an "Environmental Weed" (ie it doesn't impact farmers crops). The flowers are tiny; and go against the rule of thumb of small flowers being native. They are petalless (petals 0). The apparant petals are actually 5 sepals which start green and turn red with age. The flower has 5 stamen. The 5 bracts (leaf like structures) are toothed and form a cup holding up to about 8 flowers. The flower heads are on varying length stalks (0 to ~10mm). A flower head can throw 5 stalks with more flower heads; in fact it'll even throw another "branch". The plant is almost grass like, with the base of each leaf curving round the stem at least at each branch. The branches are hexegon. The structure tends to create a ceme of flowers (ie one branch is a flower head, the other goes higher until another fork or terminates in a flowerhead). The flowers are on top of the fruit, which splits in 2 when it dries; and goes a pale lilac colour. While trying to describe this plant one realises why there are so many botanical terms to describe the huge array of features a plant can exhibit; in a succinct way, unlike this novel | |||
| Carrots Apiales | Pittosporum Pittosporaceae | Sweet Pittosporum Pittosporum undulatum iNaturalist | If a | Thank you John Tann for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Mustards & Allies Brassicales | Mustard Brassicaceae or Cruciferae | Flax-leaf Alyssum Alyssum linifolium iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Renate and Glenys for identifying this species for us A very strange plant with brown, circular, flat, disk fruits. These discs dry to a paper thin shell, then drop the two seeds contained within. Also has strange tufted short hairs growing from it's leaves & stem. | |||
| Mustards & Allies Brassicales | Mustard Brassicaceae or Cruciferae | Wild Turnip Brassica tournefortii iNaturalist | If e m r |
Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us Not a major problem at Ellura. Removed when found. One of the few plants than can grow under Mallee. Small yellow flower, long green seed pods. Tall, straggly, hairy stems with lobed leaves staying near the ground. | |||
| Mustards & Allies Brassicales | Mustard Brassicaceae or Cruciferae | Wards Weed Carrichtera annua | If e m | Invasive throughout the region. Difficult to eradicate as it's in such hugh numbers. The areas we have weeded have shown a big return of native forbs. Seedlings are purple before turning luscious green. Grazed by wombats & roos. Replaces native grass. | |||
| Mustards & Allies Brassicales | Mustard Brassicaceae or Cruciferae | Sweet Alyssum Lobularia maritima iNaturalist | If a | Thank you Jeanie Shelton for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Mustards & Allies Brassicales | Mustard Brassicaceae or Cruciferae | Smooth Mustard Sisymbrium erysimoides | If e m |
| |||
| Mustards & Allies Brassicales | Mignonette Resedaceae | Cut-leaf Mignonette Reseda luteola | If m |
Forms a large round rosette, then shoots tall seed heads. Very deep roots which easily break near the rosette to later recover. Manual removal requires as much root as possible to be removed. We remove at least 100mm. | |||
| Betalains Caryophyllales | Carnation Caryophyllaceae | Mouse-ear Chickweed Cerastium glomeratum | If e m a | A hairy leaved weed. A white flower that has 5 petals which are deeply lobed and can look like 10 petals. On Ellura it is more prostrate than in the Adelaide Hills. | |||
| Betalains Caryophyllales | Carnation Caryophyllaceae | Hairypink Petrorhagia dubia iNaturalist | If c |
Thank you BMCGoolie for confirming the id of this species for us In these photo's the flowers have a blue hue to them. This wasn't visible to the naked eye, so a camera artifact; not real. | |||
| Betalains Caryophyllales | Carnation Caryophyllaceae | Mallee Catchfly Silene apetala | If e m |
Tall straggly weed with tiny flowers. | |||
| Betalains Caryophyllales | Carnation Caryophyllaceae | French Catchfly Silene gallica var gallica iNaturalist | If c |
Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Betalains Caryophyllales | Ice Plant Aizoaceae | Galenia Galenia secunda iNaturalist | If m |
Thank you Ernst Weiher for confirming the id of this species for us Has white or pink flowers. It's much hairier than it's relation, Aizoon pubescens, which is also introduced in Australia and seems more common. | |||
| Vines Cucurbitales | Gourd Cucurbitaceae | Paddymelon Citrullus colocynthis | If m |
These can grow much larger than shown here. But this is a good comparision between the smooth and prickly paddymelons, as well as a mallee leaf | |||
| Vines Cucurbitales | Gourd Cucurbitaceae | Prickly Paddymelon Cucumis myriocarpus | If m |
| |||
| Heathers & Allies Ericales | Primrose Primulaceae | Scarlet Pimpernel Lysimachia arvensis var arvensis iNaturalist | If a | Thank you Jennifer Rycenga for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Heathers & Allies Ericales | Primrose Primulaceae | Blue Scarlet Pimpernel Lysimachia loeflingii iNaturalist | If m |
Thank you Ernst Weiher for confirming the id of this species for us This is very difficult/nearly impossible to differentiate from Lysimachia foemina, except the latter hasn't been found in SA ... yet. | |||
| Legumes Fabales | Legume Fabaceae or Leguminosae | Cape Broom Genista monspessulana iNaturalist | If a | Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Legumes Fabales | Legume Fabaceae or Leguminosae | Burr Medic Medicago polymorpha | If e m |
| |||
| Legumes Fabales | Legume Fabaceae or Leguminosae | Small-leaf Burr Medic Medicago praecox iNaturalist | If e m |
Thanks to Norbert Sauberer's assistance, this may be Medicago truncatula. Norbert said "The leaves of Medicago praecox are nearly glabrous." | |||
| Legumes Fabales | Legume Fabaceae or Leguminosae | Subterraneum Clover Trifolium subterraneum | If a |
| |||
| Legumes Fabales | Legume Fabaceae or Leguminosae | Bridal Veil Broom Retama monosperma iNaturalist | If m | Thank you Ralph Foster for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Centauries Gentianales | Gentian Gentianaceae | Red Centaury Centaurium erythraea | If a | Similar Species: Branched Centaury (Centaurium tenuiflorum) You can see here that Red Centaury's habit is quite different to both Branched Centaury & Spike Centaury, but the flowers look identical from above. The basal leaves stay green during flowering while the other two dry up quickly. This species is also larger and more lucious than the other two. | |||
| Centauries Gentianales | Gentian Gentianaceae | Branched Centaury Centaurium tenuiflorum | If e m a | Similar Species: Spike Centaury (Schenkia australis) : Red Centaury (Centaurium erythraea) Can be difficult to distinguish from Spike Centaury on habit alone; particularly for small plants withonly one stem and one flower. However, the comparison of the sepals of the 3 similar plants here shows how unique Branched Centaury is from the other two with no distance between the tip of the sepals and the separation/bend of the petals. | |||
| Geraniums Geraniales | Geranium Geraniaceae | Common Crowfoot Erodium cicutarium | If e m a |
| |||
| Mints Lamiales | Forget-me-not Boraginaceae | Corn Gromwell Buglossoides arvensis iNaturalist | If m |
Thank you Santiago Morales PP for confirming the id of this species for us A small slender, hairy plant that stands at ~200mm high. Flowers have 5 white petals and tiny at ~5mm across | |||
| Mints Lamiales | Forget-me-not Boraginaceae | Purple Peril Echium plantagineum | If e m a |
| |||
| Mints Lamiales | Forget-me-not Boraginaceae | Hairy Sheepweed Neatostema apulum | If e m |
| |||
| Mints Lamiales | Mint Lamiaceae | Horehound Marrubium vulgare iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us #3 Enemy: Bush with green grey foliage, very hard to spot in saltbush. Hides well. Seeds last decades in the soil, so long term monitoring of an infected area is required to ensure it doesn't become re-established. Has little hooks on the seed pods that get stuck to animal fur (and socks!) which spreads the seed very effectively. With the recent flooding (2022) we found the first horehound, about to seed, for many years from an old seed bank. | |||
| Mints Lamiales | Mint Lamiaceae | Wild Sage Salvia verbenaca var verbenaca iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Mark (Vandalsen) for confirming the id of this species for us We found one of these on Ellura and took forever to work it out. In worldwide, it is considered a synonym of Salvia verbanaca. However it's different. It's leaves are not as lobed and wider. It doesn't smell when crushed. It has red tints throughout the stems & leaves. Unfortunately the flower stem was eaten before we could get a photo of the flowers; only managing to photo buds. It is certainly a strong relationship, and a sub-species makes sense to us. But being a synonym doesn't. In the past they have been called "Type A" & "Type B". Now they have names. This sub-species is recognised on the Australian national ANBG/APNI web sites. | |||
| Mints Lamiales | Mint Lamiaceae | Wild Sage Salvia verbenaca var vernalis iNaturalist | If e m |
Thank you Mark (Vandalsen) for confirming the id of this species for us #2 Enemy: Called "Sage" due to its strong smell. Will decimate an area over time if allowed. Likes depressions. Currently invasive throughout Ellura. A staged approach will be used to eradicate: 1 Spray with Glyphosate on tracks (car, wombat & roo) to stop spread 2 Spray open & infested areas to stop volume seed generation 3 Manual removal from under natives (primarily saltbush) 4 Monitor infested areas for 10 years to finalise. | |||
| Mints Lamiales | Plantain Plantaginaceae | Hairy Plantain Plantago bellardii iNaturalist | If c | Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Grasses & Sedges Poales | Grass Poaceae | Blowfly Grass Briza maxima iNaturalist | If a c |
Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us One or 2 larger seed heads coming from the plant with a gentle curved stemmed, hanging down. | |||
| Grasses & Sedges Poales | Grass Poaceae | Little Quaking Grass Briza minor iNaturalist | If a | Thank you Alan Dandie
for confirming the id of this species for us Very similar to B. major. Here you see many seed heads coming/branching from the one plant | |||
| Grasses & Sedges Poales | Grass Poaceae | Hare's-tail Grass Lagurus ovatus iNaturalist | If c | Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Buttercups Ranunculales | Poppy Papaveraceae | Round Pricklyhead Poppy Papaver hybridum iNaturalist | If m |
Thank you Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us | |||
| Potatoes Solanales | Nightshade Solanaceae | Silverleaf Nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium | If m |
Similar Species: Silver Goodenia (Goodenia willisiana) Thank you Andrew Allanson for identifying this species for us | |||
| Potatoes Solanales | Nightshade Solanaceae | African Boxthorn Lycium ferocissimum iNaturalist | If e m | Thank you Andrew Allanson for identifying and Alan Dandie
for confirming the id of this species for us These are a declared noxious weed. Ooops. We thought we had the native. Our specimens generally looked very sparse and easy to mistake with the native (Lycium australe) As soon as we realised (yesterday, 5 March 2014), we cut & swabbed them. This situation highlights the need for web sites like ours: To help land owners & conservationists identify introduced species & eradicate them; giving natives more resources (nutrients/water/space) to grow. Which in turn gives native animals better things to eat & places to live in. Notice how natives always seem to be attacked by insects but introduced species aren't? Native insects depend on native plants to survive as they don't recognise introduced plants as useful. Birds & lizards thrive on insects. Ergo; less weeds = more birds & lizards. We've heard that if all the insects died today, man-kind would be extinct in 6 months! We've had one growing for some 10 years, but it never flowered. We thought it might be Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa ssp spinosa), waiting for it to flower, but it never did. Finally in April 2022 it flowered, nearly 10 years after we discovered it and it was a typical African Boxthorn flower. It's now been removed. | |||
| Guinea-flowers Dilleniales | Dillenia Dilleniaceae | Climbing Guinea-flower Hibbertia scandens iNaturalist | Ir a | Thank you Ralph Foster & Dr Timothy Hammer for identifying this species for us We thought this was Australian Buttercup (Ranunculus lappaceus) Timothy said this is "Likely a garden escapee" | |||
| Grevilleas Proteales | Protea Proteaceae | Pincushion Hakea Hakea laurina iNaturalist | Ir c | Thank you David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us Regionally Introduced from Western Australia | |||
| Plants (Plantae) - Liverworts (Marchantiophyta) - Liverworts (Marchantiopsida) - Introduced Species | ||||||
| Crescent Liverworts Lunulariales | Crescent Liverwort Lunulariaceae | Crescent-cup Liverwort Lunularia cruciata iNaturalist | If a | Thank you Dr Guido Brusa for confirming the id of this species for us The Gemma here look like spores capsules in other life forms, with the cups looking like fruiting bodies. However, the Gemma are actually parts of the plant that disperse (similarly to seed & spores) and take root. Instead of being wind blown, these are dispersed by raindrops hitting the cup. The big difference is these are not produce sexually, but more a broken off part of the plant. Thinking of it as a plant that has suckered from roots. The new plant becomes independant of the original, but is a clone of the original. | ||
| Copyright © 1996-2023 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. |