Himalayan Honeysuckle Local Priority Weed

Under the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015, all landholders have a “General Biosecurity Duty” to manage any “Biosecurity Risk” posed or likely to be posed by Priority Weeds. These weeds can impact on human health, the economy, the liveability of our City and the environment. Impacts can include allergies and other health issues, costs of control, loss of tourism value, degradati on of natural landscapes, parks and recreati on faciliti es, reducti on of useful agricultural land and loss of primary producti on, loss of biodiversity and water quality.

MANDATORY OUTCOME The plant should be fully and conti nuously suppressed and destroyed.

Scienti fi c name Leycesteria formosa (Family: Caprifoliaceae) Descripti on Habit: A deciduous, multi -stemmed shrub to 3 m. Stems are erect, hollow and bamboo-like. Leaves: The leaves are heart shaped. The underside of leaves is paler than the upper surface. Flowers: Flowering mostly spring and summer. The crimson and white fl owers grow in long drooping lantern-like spikes. Fruit: Fruits are oval-shaped fl eshy berries, dark crimson when ripe. Fruit contains more than 100 small seeds.

Photo source: Matt Rudge

Blue Mountains City Council - Bushland Operati ons Team |htt p://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/weeds| Phone: 4780 5000

Fact Sheet Fact WEEDS ARE EVERYBODY’S RESPONSIBILITY

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Dispersal Spread by animals and water. Himalayan Honeysuckle escapes from gardens and is also spread in dumped garden waste. Impacts Invades sensiti ve, moist bushland such as Blue Mountains Swamps where it excludes nati ve vegetati on. Current distributi on Mt Victoria to Lawson; Mt Wilson to Mt Tomah.

Control • Seedlings and small plants can be hand pulled if all of the roots can be removed. • More established plants will need to be cut and painted using herbicide.

Note: It is best to treat plants before they fruit.

Hand Removal Cut and Paint

Plant this instead Crimson Bott lebrush and Grevilleas.

Control illustrati ons by Virginia Bear.

For more informati on on weed identi fi cati on, control methods, herbicide use and weed contractors see: Blue Mountains City Council - Bushland Operati ons Team | htt p://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/weeds | Phone: 4780 5000

Fact Sheet Fact BLUE MOUNTAINS - NO PLACE FOR WEEDS

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