Many or deep loabes

102. Thick head

Crassocephalum crepidioides

   

An erect, annual herb that grows from 30 to 100 cm tall with a prominently ribbed stem and soft, alternate, serrated leaves. The leaf blades are 7 to 15 cm long and 2 to 7 cm broad, eliptical, tapering to a point at the end and often with one or more pairs of lobes at the base. Flower heads are on slender, branched stalks in open, drooping clusters at the top of the plant. The heads are cylindrical with narrow greenish bracts which enclose slender, orange tipped flowers mixed with long hairs. At maturity these spread and release numerous small, brown ribbed seeds which have a parachute of fine hairs at the top.

Thick head is common in all districts though not usually trouble-some in cane fields.


 

103. Native bryony

Diplocyclos palmatus

 

A weak-stemmed, rough vine. Leaves are alternate and are divided into 5 to 7 lobes which radiate from the leaf stalk. They are dark green and rough above, pale green and smooth below and up to 15 cm wide. Stems are slightly prickly with tendrils branching into two. Flowers are small and several are-found together in the leaf forks. Fruits are red or green with longitudinal zigzagged white stripes and are oblong to globular and about 2 cm across.

Native Bryony is widespread but rarely found in canegrowing areas. The fruits are poisonous.


 

104. Brazilian fireweed

Erechtites valerianifolia

 

A robust, erect annual that grows to 2 m tall with thick, prominently ribbed stems and usually without hairs. Leaves are thistle-like but pale green and deeply divided with deeply toothed segments. The lower leaves are 10 to 25 cm long and have stalks; the upper leaves are smaller and stalkless. Flower heads are in dense, drooping clusters on long, leafless stalks at the top of plants. Each head is narrow, cylindrical and green and has purple hairs protruding from the top. Seeds are cigar-shaped and 3 to 4 mm long.

Brazilian Fireweed is widespread throughout the higher rainfall areas and is common on roadsides, in gullies and on the margins of rainforests.


   

105. Painted spurge

Euphorbia cyathophora

   

An upright annual growing 60 to 120 cm tall. The upper leaves are opposite and the lower leaves are alternate, lance-shaped about 7.5 cm long and 5 cm wide. Leaves taper to a leaf stalk about 2.5 cm long. Upper leaves are smaller and often fiddle-shaped. Floral leaves are red at the base, resembling Poinsettia, and surround the small terminal flowers. Fruits are three lobed and about 5 mm across.

Painted Spurge is found in all districts but unlike Milkweed (E. heterophylla) is not a problem weed of cane fields. It is usually found on roadsides, bank and adjacent to buildings.

 

   

106. Flatweed

Hypochoeris radicata

   

A perennial with a fleshy taproot. The leaves at the base form a rosette, are club-shaped tapering to the base and are usually deeply lobed. The stem leaves are few but similar in shape and get smaller towards the top of the plant. Flowers are borne on the ends of the stems, are about 2.5 cm across, disc-shaped and with bright yellow petals.

Flatweed is widespread and common in southern Queensland and NSW. It is a weed of pasture, cultivated land, the headlands of cane fields and on roadsides. Also called Catsear.

 

   

107. Balsam pear

Mormordica charantia

   

A slender-stemmed annual vine with tendrils and a strong, unpleasant smell. Leaves are soft, mid-green and deeply divided into 5 to 7 shallowly scalloped lobes. They are stalked, alternate and up to 15 cm across. Flowers are yellow, some male and some female, about 2 cm across. Both have a small, green, leaf-like bract on the flower stalk. The fruit is oval, warty and orange when ripe. It splits along its length and curls back to expose the conspicuously bright red, edible flesh surrounding the seeds.

Balsam Pear is widespread and is common in central and northern Queensland. It grows vigorously and will compete with, and sometimes smother, cane.

 

   

108. White passion vine

Passiflora subpeltata

   

A thin-stemmed, vine which climbs over other vegetation. Leaves are alternate, hairless and pale green with three rounded lobes which are rounded to heart-shaped at the base, up to 8 cm long and 10 cm broad. The leaf stalk has 2 to 4 glands and 2 leaf-like stem-clasping stipules at its junction with the stem. Tendrils and flowers are in the leaf forks. Flowers are white and of typical passion fruit flower formation. They are about 5 cm across. Fruits are oblong, about 5 cm long and bluish-green turning yellow-green when mature.

Wild Passion Vine is found in all cane growing districts but is more common in northern Queensland. It grows vigorously, smothering cane if not controlled.

 

   

109. Wild radish

Raphanus raphanistrum

   

An annual or biennial herb with a tough, slender tap-root. It first forms a rosette of leaves which are 15 to 20 cm long and usually divided into three pairs of indented lobes with a large, rounded end lobe. They are coarse and covered with stiff hairs. The stem leaves are progressively smaller towards the top. Flowers are carried at the ends of the branches and are usually pale yellow to white and veined with violet. They are up to 4 cm across. Seed pods are held erect and constricted between the seeds with a characteristic, beaked end. Seeds are red-brown and have a patterned raised hexagonal network.

Wild Radish grows best during the winter and is more common in southern districts. It is a weed of cultivation and is also found on headlands, roadsides and disturbed sites.

 

   

110. Japanese sunflower

Tithonia diversifolia

   

A robust, erect perennial with coarse, pithy stems growing to 3 m. Leaves are on long stalks, alternate, dull green above, paler and velvety beneath. They are 10 to 20 cm long and 5 to 10 cm wide, deeply divided into 5 pointed serrated lobes and taper at the base. Flower heads are large and sunflower-like, bright golden-yellow and on the end of branches in the forks of the upper leaves. Seeds are narrow and brown with silky hairs and a crown of flat papery scales.

Japanese Sunflower is widespread and common, flowering in late autumn. It is found on roadsides, areas of waste ground and on banks adjacent to cane fields.