Macquarie Valley W.C. & Lachlan Valley W.A.C.

Scotch Broom

Botanical Name:

Cytisus scoparius

Other Common Names:

Declarations

Class	Regions
Class 4	Cabonne Council,Cowra Council,Mid-Western Regional Council,Orange City Council,Upper Macquarie County Council,Weddin Shire Council

Landholder Responsibilities:

The growth and spread of the plant must be controlled according to the measures specified in a management plan published by the local control authority

Why Is It Bad?:

In Australia it is an invasive weed of disturbed bushland, roadsides and neglected areas, competing strongly with native species.

Identification

Habit:

Shrub

Leaves:

Shortly stalked, occuring singly or in clusters at the nodes, leaflets are softly hairy, middle leaflet to 2 cm long, others smaller.

Flowers:

The flowers are bright yellow with red markings, pea like, 2 to 2.5cm long, shortly stalked, they occur singly or in pairs.

Fruit:

Abrown to black flattened pod, about 5cm long and 1cm wide, it is hairy on the margins and contains 6 to 22 seeds. The pod coils after the release of seeds. The seeds are yellowish brown, round and shiny and slightly flat, 3 to 4 mm long to 2 mm wide.

Roots:

Stout taproot often branched.

Control Methods

Manual Removal:

Chemical Use:

Spraying in the full leaf stage with picloram and triclopr, either alone of in a mixture, followed by further spraying on regrowth gives good control.

Fire:

Single bushes should be grubbed and burnt though this is impracticable over large areas.

Slashing & Cutting:

Small bushes may be slashed and the area cultivated but this produces a seed bed suitable for the establishment of seedlings. These must be controlled by furhter cultivations or heavy grazing.

Biological Control:

Attempts have been made at biological control. A stem mining moth, Leucoptera spartifoliella, and a seed feeding weevil, Apion fuscirostre, were introduced from Europe and released in California in 1960 and 1964. the insects are causing some distress to the weed but fall short of providing control.

Grazing:

Cultivation & Scalping:

Dense patches have been eliminated by bull dozing and repeated disc cultivations over 2 years.

Smothering:

Solarisation:

Competition:

Monitoring:

Macquarie Valley Weeds Committee & Lachlan Valley Weeds Advisory Committee

Scotch Broom

Declarations

Identification

Control Methods