Battle waged on Boneseed

Posted 16 November 2020.

From September through to October the Murraylands and Riverland District teams have been at war against the declared weed boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera), surveying, mapping and treating infestations large and small.

Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board District Managers Kylie Moritz and Hannah Spronk said our District teams together with our communities and networks have been invaluable and enabled us to find new infestations.

The Murraylands District Boneseed Project focused on surveying and mapping the river corridor and surrounds, Brinkley, Monarto, Murray Bridge East/Riverglades and the Mallee, treating large and small infestations and those within remnant native vegetation.

A large amount of control work on both private and Crown lands has already been completed.

Ms Moritz said having more people on the ground has enabled us to cover more properties and has led to the discovery of new infestations, all with mature plants.

“One of the new sites was found to have boneseed across the 35 ha property with more than 100 plants three metres in height,” she said.

“Finding this large infestation is a big win for the landholder, environment and the program.

“Boneseed is now dropping its flowers and starting to set seed so control work will be a priority over the coming weeks as the boneseed program nears completion.

“The boneseed program has been a great success as the teams have reduced further spread, with large infestations controlled or removed,“ Ms Moritz said.

Ms Spronk said the Riverland district team have been completing inspections and works on boneseed, which is follow-up work on a program that has been running for many years.

“The project has focused on controlling the weed in areas of remnant vegetation, and identifying any infestations nearby that may pose a threat to natural assets and primary production land,” she said.

The District Managers said boneseed can regenerate quickly and outcompete other species, so we applaud the enormous amount of work carried out by the District teams to control this declared weed.

“It is vital to keep clean areas free of boneseed as once an infestation is established, preventing its spread into adjacent land should be a priority, destroying established plants now before they flower and produce seed,” they said.

For advice on identification and control options or assistance with other pest plant and animal issues, landholders are encouraged to contact their local Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board office at Murray Bridge on phone: 8532 9100 or Murraylands and Riverland Landscape and National Parks office Berri on phone: 8580 1800.

Or visit the Biosecurity SA website and refer to the weed control handbook.

Originally from South Africa boneseed was introduced to Australia as an ornamental garden plant but is a declared weed in South Australia under the Landscape South Australia 2019 Act.

The program is supported by the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board through funding from the Landscape Levies.