La Trobe researchers warn gazania garden plant sold at Bunnings is ‘highly invasive'

A popular garden plant sold at Bunnings is even more invasive and potentially dangerous to Australia's natural environment than originally thought, new research has revealed.
La Trobe scientists, writing in the Frontiers journal, warn that gazania daisies, a brightly coloured ornamental plant sold in nurseries nationwide, is a 'highly-invasive plant' that is beginning to impact grain production and grasslands across southern Australia.
The plant can germinate and thrive in almost all conditions, the report shows, regardless of moisture, temperature or salinity levels.
'Due to its flexible growth requirements, gazania is now widespread and naturalised in a variety of habitats including coastal sand dunes, stream banks, wastelands, open grasslands, along roadsides and on cultivated and irrigated sites,' the report states.
'While gazania has long been considered as an environmental weed in Australia, a trend of 'jumping the fence' has been observed in recent years, infesting grain crop production fields in low-rainfall regions of South Australia.
'The presence of gazania in cropping fields is proving highly problematic, with farmers finding it difficult to control with common herbicides.'
The researchers warn the weed is now 'rapidly spreading' across Australia and urgent long-term management strategies are needed to control the invasion.
Gazania is native to South Africa and was introduced into Australia in the 1950s and 1970s.
Invasive Species Council advocacy manager Imogen Ebsworth said the daisies should be banned from sale immediately.
'Gazanias are the perfect example of an escaped invasive garden plant that needs to be banned from sale,' she said.
'They are already banned in South Australia, but it's clear we need them pulled nationally.
'I urge the nursery industry to act on this new evidence and stop selling it … we've seen this story unfold far too many times. Ornamental plants that turn into unstoppable weeds, costing us billions in control efforts and wiping out native species in the process.'
The council estimates more than 30,000 plant species have been imported into Australia for gardening, but 'fewer than a quarter' have been assessed nationally for their weed risk.
Weeds cost the country more than $5bn a year in agricultural and environmental damage, the council said, with 'escaped' ornamental plants making up more than 70 per cent of the country's environmental weeds.
Garden plants can escape and germinate in the wild via garden waste, lawn clippings and seed dispersal.
Bunnings continues to sell gazanias, NewsWire has confirmed.
According to the retail giant, each state and territory has its own list of declared weeds and laws and regulations for invasive weeds.
The plants Bunnings sells across its stores differ depending on where they are sold and their declaration status.
'Like many nurseries and retailers, we sell a wide range of locally sourced plants across our stores and we work hard to create an assortment that caters to customer preferences and demand,' Bunnings director of merchandise Cam Rist said.
'As always, we closely follow all relevant local biosecurity regulations and the advice of regulators about the plants we sell.'
The plant is also sold at other nurseries, including online marketplaces.
The council argues 'self-regulation' has not worked and wants a federal government response.
'We've spent decades relying mainly on self-regulation, which just doesn't work,' Ms Ebsworth said.
'You can still legally buy plants that are banned in neighbouring states or overseas.
'Unless governments act, we'll keep selling the next lantana, the next gazania, straight into our backyards and bushland.'

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