What is a weed?  If you are a gardener or till the soil for agriculture,  then these are the ubiquitous unwanted seedlings that sprout up in between the plants you want to grow. They are the invaders! They may be migrants to our country from overseas. Or they might be native plants which are growing where they are not required. A plant is deemed weedy if it takes over, out competing other slower growing species, and eventually creating a monoculture.

In the case of the following plants, classified as those which are impacting most on the livelihoods of farmers and on the health of our  ever threatened native ecosystems in the Barrabool Hills, they are all introduced from other countries.  Some, like the feral rabbit, were introduced for a purpose, without thought about the long term impacts on a susceptible landscape, others found their way here accidently.

Unfortunately this list is being added to every year, as climate change causes many of our local provenance native species to teeter on the brink of survival, opening up the ground for opportunistic invaders.

Photo credit Neville Trotter