Bug Weed: Do kill this bug
From the archive. This page keeps material from the hiking club website that once used this domain. JHB Hiking is an independent magazine; routes, access and fees may have changed, so check with the landowner or reserve before you go.
The bad group are those trees and plants which have been imported into South Africa and which simply do not know how to behave in our environment. Also known as aliens.
Check out the Department of Agriculture list of aliens.
Link: Department of Agriculture
Check out the Department of Agriculture list of aliens.
Link: Department of Agriculture
The Bug Weed is particularly bad in the Natal Midlands but is increasingly becoming a problem in the Magaliesberg.
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Latin name
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IncrSolanu mauritianum
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Common name
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Bug weed or luisboom
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Location
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KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northern Province
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Description
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Leaves large (25cm long x 10cm wide) dull green and velvety above, white and felty beneath. Strong smell when bruised.
Flowers (all year) compact, purple terminal clusters on dense felty stalks.
Fruits (all year) 10mm berries in compact clusters. Green turning yellow. Dispersed by birds and bats
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Edible
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Not edible, unripe fruits are poisonous.
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Irritant
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Hairy leaves and stems are an irritant to the respiratory tract and skin
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Invader
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Forest margins, plantations, savanna, roadsides, watercourses, urban open spaces.
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Status
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Invader 1 ?– prohibited and must be controlled
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Note: The indigenous selanum Gigantum bark is covered in short spines.
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