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Giant devil’s fig

Solanum chrysotrichum
Landscape: , | Plant Form:
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Giant devil’s fig  originated from Central America.

A member of the Solanaceae family, it is a tall perennial shrub, three metres to four metres high, with a similar growth habit to wild tobacco.

Flowering from Autumn to Spring, it reproduces from seed usually spread by birds and bats.

It rapidly invades disturbed sites, for instance, where the ground was recently bulldozed.

Twenty years ago this plant was restricted to the Tuntable Creek area.

In the 2010-2011 season we have really seen the invasion into areas as widespread as Toonumbar, to the west.

A single specimen was found near the first crossing on Upper Wilsons Creek Road.

The plant has been destroyed, and hopefully, if everyone is watchful, we may be able to prevent this species becoming established in our valleys.

Although closely related to wild tobacco, it has larger lobed leaves and nasty-looking thorns on its stems and leaves.

The flowers and fruit are also similar to those of wild tobacco, though the petals are white.

It is known from the Nimbin area, Tuntable Creek (where it is spreading through bird dispersal into the Nightcap National Park), Terania Creek and Rosebank. In South-East Queensland it is declared noxious.

Many landowners are becoming familiar with this plant after recently discovering it on their land under large established trees or along creek banks.

If you can see any on your property act immediately to remove them before they mature and set seed.

Established plants are easy to treat but the legacy they leave with the seed is the problem.

Control can be achieved by either grubbing out the seedlings or spraying with glyphosate and Water 1:100 (10ml/1L) plus surfactant up to half a metre high.

Shrubs can be cut and swabbed with a rate of 1 litre of glyphosate to 1.5 litres of water. Stem injecting is also possible on mature plants.

There is an off- label permit 9907 to cover use in areas of native vegetation for the control of noxious and environmental weeds.

 

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