Botanical name

Rumex crispus

Family name:

Polygonaceae

Common name:

Curled Dock

Type of weed:

Perennial

Characteristics:

Grows to a height of 1m with a 0.5m spread. Originally from Europe, this plant is resilient to drought and frost, and very adaptable to most soils and positions.

Stem:

Upright, smooth and thin.

Leaves:

Large green leaves with undulating margins. Stem leaves are small

Flowers:

Lots of small, pale green flowers hanging in droopy, circular clusters.

Roots:

Strong tap root.

Spread:

• By seed.

• By cultivation of roots.

Control:

• Digging out whole plant.

• Herbicide spray.

Botanical name

Cyperus Rotundus

Family name:

Cyperaceae

Common name:

Nut Grass

Type of weed:

Perennial

Characteristics:

Grows to a height of 0.6m with a 0.3m spread. Originally from India, this plant favours an exposed, sunny position in humus-rich damp soil and is drought and frost sensitive.

Stem:

Upright, thin and flowering.

Leaves:

Thin, short, Dark green grass-like leaves with loose jacket casing at base.

Flowers:

Brown flowers in spikelet clusters that appear in summer.

Roots:

Creeping rhizome.

Spread:

• By seed

• By cultivation of rhizome.

Control:

• Weeding by removing all rhizomes

• Herbicide spray.

Botanical name

Watsonia bulbillifera

Family name:

Iridaceae

Common name:

Watsonia

Type of weed:

Perennial

Characteristics:

Grows to a height of 2.0m. Forms crowded areas that prevent other species from growing, particular native vegetation or grazing land.

Stem:

Erect and reddish in colour, occasionally branches close to the top. Bulbils/cormils form along the stem.

Leaves:

Long, can grow to 70cm and 4-5cm wide with smooth, rigid, sword-like, pale green leaves coming up from the corm with a major middle vein and lots of parallel veins. Maturing leaves are fibrous while stem leaves are smaller and sheath-like.

Flowers:

Dull red to pink with curved trumpet-shaped flowers about 6-8cm long, lots of flowers at the top of the spear. Flowering starts in late October.

Roots:

Shallow corms are fibrous.

Spread:

• Bulbils/comils are distributed when plant dies off in summer.

• By graders and earth-moving equipment.

Control:

• Digging up entire plant, particularly with rotary hoe. Cultivation should start in early winter.

• Herbicides but only when actively growing.

Botanical name

Oxalis pes-caprae.

Family name:

Oxalidaceae

Common name:

Soursob

Type of weed:

Perennial

Characteristics:

Common in cooler regions and likes gardens.

Leaves:

Trifoliate heart-shaped leaves with brownish purple spots on a long stalk.

Flowers:

Trumpet shaped yellow flowers growing in clusters of 3-16.

Roots:

Tuber-like with numerous smaller bulbs.

Spread:

• By bulbs.

• By soil movement.

Control:

• Digging up and removing all bulbs.

• Systemic herbicides during flowering.

Botanical name

Taraxacum officinale

Family name:

Asteraceae/Compositae

Common name:

Dandelion

Type of weed:

Perennial

Characteristics:

Grows to a height of 0.3m with a 0.2m spread. Originally from the Northern Hemisphere, this plant is resilient to drought and frost, and very adaptable to most soils and positions.

Stem:

Upright, hollow, purplish, single stem with flower.

Leaves:

Green, spathulate, serrated edges, smooth, shiny leaves with a milky sap forming at the base of the plant.

Flowers:

Single double yellow daisy at the end of the stem.

Roots:

Deep, thick, fleshy tap-root, very persistent.

Spread:

• By seed.

• By pieces of root spread through cultivation.

Control:

• Weeding.

• Herbicides.

Botanical name

Arctotheca calendula

Family name:

Asteraceae/Compositae

Common name:

Capeweed

Type of weed:

Herbaceous annual

Characteristics:

Grows to a height of 0.15m with a 0.25m spread. Originally from Africa, this plant is resilient to drought but frost sensitive, and likes light, sandy, well-drained soils in exposed and sunny positions. A substitute host for the red legged earth mite.

Stem:

Flat and branching.

Leaves:

Alternate and serrated (pinnate) leaves to the midrib, very hairy, thick, fleshy, silvery grey-green surface with silver underside, forming at the base with no milky sap.

Flowers:

Large, single, yellow, daisy-like flower with black or orange centre on a one stem.

Roots:

Tough and stringy.

Spread:

• By seed.

• By bird and animal.

• By soil contaminations through the use of vehicles and machinery.

Control:

• Manual weeding.

• Cultivation.

• Herbicides.

Botanical name

Sonchus oleraceus

Family name:

Asteraceae/Compositae

Common name:

Common Sowthistle or Milk Thistle

Type of weed:

Annual

Characteristics:

Grows to a height of 1.5m with a 1m spread. Originally from Europe, this plant is resilient to drought and frost, and very adaptable to most soils but likes exposed and sunny positions. A substitute host for aphids.

Stem:

Upright, hollow and branching.

Leaves:

Deeply serrated to the midrib, immature leaves are spathulate, and form a rosette, silver, grey/green waxy exterior and milky sap. Sometimes upper leaves are furry.

Flowers:

Clusters of small yellow, dandelion-like flowers (florets) on the top of a ribbed, hollow stem. Flowers turn into thick clumps of white hair as seeds ripen ready for release in late autumn and late spring to early summer.

Roots:

Semi-fibrous, tap root.

Spread:

• By seed. This includes being carried by strong winds and moving water.

Control:

• Manual weeding.

• Cultivation.

• Herbicides.

Botanical name

Agropyron repens

Family name:

Gramineae/Poaceae

Common name:

Couch grass

Type of weed:

Perennial

Characteristics:

Grows to a height of 1.2m with a spread of 1m in clumps in lawns and gardens, and commonly known as Quick Grass, Twitch Grass, Quick Grass, Scutch Grass, Wheat Grass, Devil's Grass. Originally from Europe and flourishes in all soil types but particularly robust in neutral to alkaline soils.

Stem:

Upright, round, hollow, smooth and wide at joints.

Leaves:

Green, thin, flat, pointy leaves with rough upper surface and edges, and hairy inner surface.

Flowers:

Yellow, looks like small heads of wheat and appears in summer.

Roots:

Yellow, long, creeping and fibrous, can grow as long as 2 metres. Roots are shallow in lawns but deep in cultivated land.

Spread:

• By seed.

• By rootstock.

Control:

• Hoeing regularly to keep down new shoots will eventually wear out and destroy the plant.

• Maintaining well watered and fertilized lawn keeps weeds from taking a hold.

• Herbicide sprays.

Botanical name

Digitaria sanguinalis

Family name:

Gramineae

Common name:

Crab Grass or Summer Grass

Type of weed:

Annual

Characteristics:

Creeping weed that crowds out wanted grass and commonly known as Finger Grass, Pigeon Grass, Polish Millet. Flourishes in hot, dry environments and turns purple latter in the season before it dies out.

Leaves:

Grey-green, long, hairy sheath and coarse-textured.

Flowers:

Spiked and widely branching from the plant's center.

Roots:

Shallow, fine but strong creeping shoots that stem at nodes.

Spread:

• By seed.

• By its creeping nature that sprouts roots at stem nodes.

• By cultivation during growing season.

Control:

• Manual weeding (hoeing and digging out) and leaving roots uncovered to dry them out.

• Maintaining well watered and fertilized lawn keeps weeds from taking a hold.

• Mowing the grass but not too short will keep the soil cool and prevent seed germination.

• Herbicide spray.

Botanical name

Paspalum dilatatum

Family name:

Panicoideae

Common name:

Paspalum

Type of weed:

Perennial (usually) or annual

Characteristics:

Names derives from the Greek paspalos meaning a kind of millet and found in diverse environments throughout the world, particularly warmer regions, for example forest boundaries, coastal sands, coastal and inland salt marshes.

Leaves:

Long, narrow, rolled in bud, grey-green.

Flowers:

Small spikelets with 3-7 branches, sticky to touch.

Roots:

Deep, ranging from fibrous to strong and woody shoots.

Spread:

• By seed.

• By cutting up shoots and roots.

• By cultivation.

Control:

• Manual weeding.

• Herbicide spray.