Invasive Bloom #1, Boneseed, Victoria Australia

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The story of boneseed in Australia is a very common one. Originally from South Africa, boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subspecies monilifera) was moronically introduced as an ornamental garden plant in 1852. It was later planted deliberately and extensively to control erosion and stabilise coastal sand dunes.

A single boneseed plant can produce 50,000 seeds per year. The seeds remain viable for ten to 15 years, can germinate at any time of year, and are distributed by birds and other animals, as well as through garden refuse, soil, and water movement. What could possibly go wrong?

After allowing the imported plants to propegate uncontrolled for one hundred and seventeen years, boneseed was proclaimed a noxious weed. Not long thereafter the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science (AIAS) suggested that Boneseed could potentially be "the most important weed on public land in southern Victoria" due to its ability to colonize areas of bushland without the level of soil disturbance often required by other weedy species. Then, as if it made any difference, a law was passed making it illegal to sell or transport boneseed. The barn door was finally closed a century after the horse escaped. Boneseed grows literally everywhere I have been in southern Victoria, from mountainsides to coastlines. I have never seen an effort anywhere to control it, perhaps because it is impossible.

Boneseed's primary impact is on ecosystems, where it outcompetes and displaces native vegetation, reduces biodiversity and alters habitats. It creates dense stands that suppress native plants, impacts fire regimes, and affects native wildlife by displacing their food supply and habitats. To make up for all of that, it is quite pretty to look at when it blooms in the spring. The blossoms have no noticeable scent.