Weed of the month

WEED INDENTIFICATION

African Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum)

June-1.jpgJune2.jpg

 

What does it look like?

African boxthorn is a woody, thorny shrub that can grow up to 5 m high and 3 m wide. Young plants grow quickly. Plants sometimes drop their leaves and appear dead during drought or in winter.

Leaves are oval shaped, is smooth and fleshy with a rounded tip

Flowers are white to purples with 5 petals. The flowers are fragrant usually present in spring and summer

Fruit are round berries. They are green when they are young and orange / red when they ripen

Seeds are light brown to yellow in colour. They are smooth with small raised dots

Stems are thorny with thorns up to 15cm long

 

Where is it found?

African boxthorn grows across NSW and is most common on well drained soils of the western slopes and plains.

This tree was brought to Australia from South Africa in the mid-1800s as a hedge plant and has spread from around old homesteads and urban areas

What type of environment does it grow in?

African boxthorn is drought tolerant and grows in temperate, subtropical and semi-arid regions. Trees can grow on all soil types, though they grow best on well-drained, sandier soils along dry creek beds.

 

Control

Successful weed control relies on follow up after the initial efforts. This means looking for and killing regrowth or new seedlings. Using a combination of control methods is usually more successful.

To manage African boxthorn:

  • treat mature plants and follow-up to suppress regrowth
  • kill young plants before they are two years old to prevent seed set
  • follow-up until African boxthorn is eradicated
  • promote vigorous perennial pastures to resist invasion
  • Physical removal by
  • Machine, cultivation, chemical control, foliar spraying, soil spraying, basal bark treatment, cut stump treatment, stem injection, granular herbicide soil application

 

For further advice and assistance with information, select the link and visit

https://weeds.dpi.nsw.gov.au/Weeds/AfricanBoxthorn

Or please contact our weed control team at compliance@berriganshire.nsw.gov.au

Note: This information has been provided by the NSW Government DPI

 

 

 

Back to top