Badhara bush

• Highly variable, thorny shrub or small tree, 2–4m tall (occasionally up to 10m).
• Stems are yellowish or brownish white.
• Branches are armed with pairs of spines. Leaves are dark green above, paler below, in opposite pairs, usually with 1 of the pair smaller than the other.
• Leaves are generally ovate, 1–10cm long, 1.5–6cm wide, pointed at the apex.
• Younger leaves are 3-lobed, older leaves not lobed, with sparse hairs on undersides.
• Flowers are yellow, tubular, generally around 5cm long.
• Fruit is yellow when ripe, pear-shaped, about 1.5cm across.
• Fruits have 4 chambers in which seed can be found, though usually only 2 chambers have fully developed seed.

• Prefers subtropical forests.
• Occurs in dry, intermittently flowing water courses.

• Only known infestations near Rockhampton.
• Visit Weeds Australia and click on the distribution tab to access the distribution map.

• Seeds germinate after first summer rains.
• Flowers appear in second or third year.
• Flowers mainly October–July, with small number of plants flowering all year.
• Fruiting period mainly December–August.
• Time from bud to mature fruit is 110–130 days.

Environmental

• Decreases biodiversity.

Economic

• Forms dense thickets, shading out useful pasture species.
• Prevents stock movement.

• Spread mainly by bird-dispersed seeds.
• Woody taproots can produce suckers, particularly after disturbance.

• Find out how farmers can prevent weed spread.
• Find out how gardeners and outdoor enthusiasts can prevent weed spread.

Mechanical control

• Bulldoze and deep-rip infestations that are clumped or too difficult to treat individually, then stockpile and burn them.
• Monitor treated area annually for regrowth from root fragments.
• Foliar spray any emergent stem with glyphosate (360g/L) at 1 part chemical to 50 parts water.

Herbicide control

• Cut-stump individual stems as close as possible to the ground and treat immediately with either glyphosate (360g/L) at 1 part chemical to 1  part water, metsulfuron (600g/L) at 5g product to 1L of water plus wetter or imazapyr (250g/L) at 1 part herbicide to 1 part water.

Biological control

• No known biological control agent.

• Badhara bush is a category 3 restricted invasive plant under the Biosecurity Act 2014.
• You must not give away, sell, or release into the environment. Penalties may apply.
• You must take all reasonable and practical measures to minimise the biosecurity risks associated with dealing with badhara bush under your control. This is called a general biosecurity obligation (GBO).
• At a local level, each local government agency must have a biosecurity plan that covers invasive plants in its area. This plan may include actions to be taken on badhara bush. Some of these actions may be required under local laws. Contact your local council for more information.