Salvation Jane

~ By Julie ~

Throughout Australia, weeds are spreading faster than they can be controlled and management of them is consuming an enormous amount of resources. Not all of Australia's weeds have come from other countries. Australian native plants can also become weeds when they grow into new areas from within their natural habitat where they have a competitive advantage over indigenous plants. Native plants can also become weeds when their natural habitat changes, enabling them to better compete with other species and increase their population size and/or density.

In general weeds are a serious threat to Australia's natural environment and primary production industries. They take over native species, and reduce farm and forest productivity because they produce large numbers of seeds, assisting their spread to invade disturbed sites and areas in which they did not previously exist.

Seeds spread into natural and disturbed environments, by the Elements, waterways, people, vehicles, machinery, birds and other animals. Rabbits, cattle, horses, goats and pigs, can create good conditions for weed growth and help them spread. Weeds can contribute to soil disturbance and loss of native plant cover. They thrive where fertilizers and other wastes are washed into bush land, leaving extra nutrients in the soil. All Australian states and territories have experienced native plant invasions. For example, in Victoria around 200 species have naturalized outside their native range.

Weeds are known as invasive plants that may need to be removed because of their effect on the environment. The most common in Australia are Fennel, Artichoke, Thistle, Bamboo, Olives and Salvation Jane.

Salvation Jane is overgrown in the country around our city and has become a huge threat due to the large amount of seed it produces and although it looks pretty, it is deadly to horses, pigs, cattle, sheep and goats who are attracted to the alkaloids in this plant and after eating it they lose condition, appetite and then die after a few weeks of feeding on it.

It is an annual plant usually reaching about 60cm high and it has short bristly hairs. Plants can grow at any time of the year but most commonly seeds germinate after autumn rains. The leaves are produced in autumn and winter and they are large with veins. Salvation Jane grows flat on the ground to produce a rosette. Flowering starts in spring and continues for several months and normally dies in summer.

Mowing or grazing the flowering plants helps to encourage new shoots that will flower out of season. The most important method of spread is in contaminated hay, fodder and grain, and is most noticeable in times of drought. Water is a common method of spread, especially in hilly areas.

         

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