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Hawkweed
What is it?
There are several hundred species of Hieracium hawkweed (in the plant family Asteraceae), all of them invasive. Weedy hawkweeds reach between 15 to 90 centimetres high, with horizontal stems that can develop new roots. A one square metre patch of hawkweed can produce up 40,000 seeds.
What are its effects?
Hawkweeds develop in very dense, outward-growing patches, displacing native or cultivated vegetation.
Where is it found?
Hawkweeds are mostly native to temperate and mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Several European species have become major weeds of pasture lands in northeastern America, Japan, New Zealand and Patagonia.
Although not yet widely naturalised in Australia, four invasive hawkweeds species have already been found (Hieracium praealtum in Victoria, H. aurantuacum in Tasmania and H. murorum in NSW) and are the subjects of eradication programs in these States.
What’s the risk to Australia?
Hawkweeds are most likely to enter Australia in consignments of seeds from Europe, North America or New Zealand and represent a significant threat to agriculture, horticulture and native vegetation.