Pest plant - Water dropwort
- Fact sheet
- August 2015
Water dropwort (Oenanthe pimpinelloides) is a poisonous erect perennial herb that easily displaces pasture species.
Description
- grows to 1.5m high with leaf rosettes, like wild geranium
- flower stems are almost leafless with white flowers appearing in late spring to summer
- stems remain erect over summer, holding seeds in an umbrella-shaped cluster
- rounded 20mm diameter tubers form along the roots
- seeds are 3mm long, boat-shaped and ribbed, with 2 hooks at one end.
Why is it a problem?
- can replace pasture species and competes with native species during summer
- unpalatable to livestock
- may be toxic to some animals
Distribution
- Adelaide Hills
Ecology
- occurs in water-logged pasture and occasionally on roadsides
- growth is from tubers and seed.
How it spreads
- seed spreads by water, stock, hay and machinery
- tubers may also be a means of spread, via water along watercourses
- as a contaminant of hay.