Know your alien invasive plant: Triffid weed
Hillcrest Conservancy will produce weekly articles regarding the various alien invasive plant species in the Highway area to help the community identify and eliminate them.
THIS week, Hillcrest Conservancy takes a look at the Triffid weed as part of its series of articles on alien invasive plants, to help the community to identify and eradicate them from their gardens.The Triffid weed’s scientific name is Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) but is also known as the Paraffin weed, Armstrong’s weed, Eupatorium, Chromolaena; Siam weed, paraffienbos (Afrikaans) or usandanezwe (isiZulu).
What does it look like? It is a scrambling, sparsely hairy shrub which grows up to four metres or higher and can form very dense impenetrable stands. It has light green leaves, often yellowish which smell strongly of turpentine or paraffin when crushed. Its flowers are white or pale blue cylindrical which appears from June to July, surrounded by speckled bracts. It produces straw-coloured, bristly fruits and this plant is poisonous.
Where does this species come from? North, Central and South America (south-eastern United States to northern Argentina), as well as the West Indies.
What is its invasive status in South Africa? It is a CARA 2002 – Category 1 NEMBA – Category 1b invasive alien plant.
Where in South Africa is it a problem? Common throughout the lowlands of KwaZulu-Natal and into Swaziland, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces.
How does it spread? It produces vast amount of wind-blown seeds.
Why is it a problem? It invades forest margins, savanna, plantations, wooded kloofs, water courses and roadsides. It completely smothers and suppresses indigenous vegetation and known to replace up to 100 percent of indigenous vegetation in some regions. It is also highly flammable, contributing to fires.
Contact Ian Pattrick on 079 909 5458 or Hillcrest Conservancy chairman, George Victor, on 073 901 3902 or e-mail georgevic@telkomsa.net
