Invasiveness Assessment - Boneseed / bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera) in Victoria (Nox)

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Plant invasiveness is determined by evaluating a plant’s biological and ecological characteristics against criteria that encompass establishment requirements, growth rate and competitive ability, methods of reproduction, and dispersal mechanisms.

Each characteristic, or criterion, is assessed against a list of intensity ratings. Depending upon information found, a rating of Low, Medium Low, Medium High or High is assigned to that criterion. Where no data is available to answer a criterion, a rating of medium (M) is applied. A description of the invasiveness criteria and intensity ratings used in this process can be viewed here.

The following table provides information on the invasiveness of Boneseed.

A more detailed description of the methodology of the Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method can be viewed below:

Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (PDF - 630 KB)
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (DOC - 1026 KB)
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Common Name: Boneseed
Scientific name: Chrysanthemoides monilifera SSP M

Question	Comments	Reference	Rating
Establishment
Germination requirements?	“Seeds germinate at any time of year but mostly in autumn”.	P & C (1992 p. 274)	H
Establishment requirements?	Occurs in forested areas (e.g. wet sclerophyll forests), where it would receive shading from overstorey Eucalypts.	P & C (1992 p. 276)	MH
How much disturbance is required?	Boneseed, however is a weed because of its ability to establish in areas of native vegetation, whether disturbed or not.	P & C (1992 p. 276)	H
Growth/Competitive
Life form?	A perennial shrub	P & C (1992 p. 274)	L
Allelopathic properties?	“There is recent evidence that boneseed exercises an allelopathic effect on some native species. Leaf litter and fruit leaches inhibit the germ and growth of some species”.	P & C (1992 p. 276)	ML
Tolerates herb pressure?	“Seedlings of boneseed are eaten by rabbits”. “Boneseed does not persist when grazed or trampled by stock nor when cultivated”.	P & C (1992 p. 276) P & C (1992 p. 277)	ML
Normal growth rate?	“There is dense growth of seedling after fire which swamps out other species”.	P & C (1992 p. 276)	H
Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc?	Tolerant of frost (occurs in South Tasmania): drought (occurs in Mallee). “It is not restricted by climate, tolerates saline conditions”.	P & C (1992 Dist. Map P & C (1992 p. 273)	MH
Reproduction
Reproductive system	“Reproducing by seed”. “Also reproduces by stem layering and some plants will re sprout after fires or *	P & C (1992 p. 274)	H
Number of propagules produced?	“Seed production is prolific and up to 50,000 seeds per plant per year have been recorded”.	P & C (1992 p. 276)	H
Propagule longevity?	“Seed of ssp: Monilifera is longer lived and retains a high viability for 4-5 years at least”.	P & C (1992 p. 276)	L
Reproductive period?	“Plants live for 10-20 years”.	Muyt (2001 p. 165)	H
Time to reproductive maturity?	“Plants are at least 18 months and sometimes 3 years old before flowering”.	P & C (1992 p. 274)	ML
Dispersal
Number of mechanisms?	“Birds have been a major agent of spread because they readily eat the fleshy fruit and either pass or regurgitate the seed in a viable condition”.	See P & C (1992 p. 275 for other Mech.)	H
How far do they disperse?	“Birds and other agents could disperse seeds > 1 km	See P & C (1992 p. 275 for other Mech.)	H

* Damage to top growth (Muyt 2001 p. 166) - Score: 0.80

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