Invasiveness Assessment - Senegal tea plant (Gymnocoronis spilanthoides) in Victoria
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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 Senegal tea plant.
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 - 1 MB)
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Common Name: Senegal tea plant
Scientific name: Gymnocoronis spilanthoides
| Question | Comments | Rating | Confidence |
| Establishment | |||
| Germination requirements? | ‘Although most seeds germinate in spring, some germination continues sporadically throughout summer.’ ‘ Fragments quickly develop adventitious roots and new stems when they come to rest, forming new colonies’ (Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001). | H | MH |
| Establishment requirements? | Although plant is shade tolerant at some stage of its life cycle (PIER 2001) requires a lot of light to establish. | ML | MH |
| How much disturbance is required? | ‘.. confined to wet marshy soils and still or very slowly flowing waters’ (Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001). ‘Margins of dams and creeks’ ‘Grows in wetlands, particularly degraded waterways’ (CRC for Australian Weed Management 2003). Can establish in minor disturbed natural ecosystem. | MH | MH |
| Growth/Competitive | |||
| Life form? | Perennial emergent herb which forms rounded bushes (Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001). Semi-aquatic. | H | MH |
| Allelopathic properties? | None described in references consulted. | L | M |
| Tolerates herb pressure? | An aquarium plant. Assume that plant is capable of flowering under moderate herbivory pressure but no documented evidence. Score medium. | M | M |
| Normal growth rate? | Plant is fast-growing (Weber 2003). ‘An extremely hardy plant with a growth rate exceeding 15 cm a week in fertile situations’ (Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001). Rapid growth rate that will exceed most other species of same life form. | H | MH |
| Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? | Tolerant to waterlogging . Freshwater herb – may be susceptible to salinity. Susceptible to drought. Found in ‘humid tropics, subtropics and warm-temperate regions’. May be susceptible to frost. (CRC for Australian Weed Management 2003). Maybe tolerant of one stress. Susceptible to at least two. | L | M |
| Reproduction | |||
| Reproductive system | Reproduces vegetatively and by seed (Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001), although research into seed production around Brisbane is very low (CRC for Australian Weed Management 2003). | H | MH |
| Number of propagules produced? | Insufficient documentation to determine number of propagules produced per flowering event. Score medium. | M | L |
| Propagule longevity? | Insufficient information to determine longevity of propagules. Score medium. | M | L |
| Reproductive period? | Species can form self-sustaining monocultures (Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001). | H | MH |
| Time to reproductive maturity? | Minimum generative period is less than one year (PIER 2001). | H | MH |
| Dispersal | |||
| Number of mechanisms? | ‘The seeds of Senegal tea plant are relatively heavy and not adapted for wind dispersal.... fall close to the parent plant and remain where they fall, or are dispersed in flowing water or mud sticking to animal hooves’ (Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001). Spread by transport of machinery (CRC for Australian Weed Management 2003). | MH | MH |
| How far do they disperse? | ‘The seeds of Senegal tea plant are relatively heavy and not adapted for wind dispersal….fall close to the parent plant and remain where they fall, or are dispersed in flowing water or mud sticking to animal hooves’ (Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001). Very few to none will disperse to 1 km, most 20-200 m. | ML | MH |
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