Weed identification resources
Environmental weeds can cause substantial damage to natural ecosystems, but it's not always easy to tell when a plant is a weed. If your garden seems to be 'going bush' or you've noticed a plant that seems out of place or that's dominating a natural habitat, you can use these resources to identify a weed and find out if it is a weed in your area.
Remember that Australian native plants can become weeds outside their native range too. Plants that are native to your area may be listed as weeds on websites from other parts of the world, so make sure you find out the native range of plant before treating it as a weed.
Websites
As a starting point, many of these online resources have good quality photos and list plants by common and scientific names. You could also enter a plant name into your favourite internet search engine to find information or images.
- The environmental weeds section of the Australian National Botanic Garden website has details of 19 species including ecology, impact information and some photos.
- The Invasive Garden Weeds website in Western Australia lists over 16,000 weeds (no photos), which you can search by botanical family.
- The South African Weeds and Invasive Plants website provides photos, descriptions, distributions and an easy-to-use 'Quick weed ID guide'.
- The University of Queensland's Centre for Biological Information Technology is currently developing Declared Plants of Australia software, an interactive identification system with detailed descriptions of at least 400 weed species.
- Western Weeds (Plant Protection Society of Western Australia) is an online guide.
You can also often find photos and information on Australian environmental weeds on general gardening websites or other large image databases. Remember, these sites are from around the world, so they may describe native Australian plants as 'weeds'.
- Australian National Botanic Gardens Plant Images can be searched by family or scientific name.
- CalPhotos has over 33,000 plant images, listed by common or scientific name.
- The Flora of Europe website can be searched by scientific name, and includes genus description.
- Floridata allows you to search by plant category, such as aquatic plant, shrub, etc.
- Flowerbase is a very good resource for garden plants.
- Missouri Botanical Gardens Tropicos Image Index lists tropical plants by family.
- The Plants at University of Hawaii website has photos of over 325 species.
- Purdue University's Center for New Crops and Plants Products website has no images but includes descriptions and information on ecology and distribution.
- The Texas Vascular Plant Image Gallery can be searched by family or scientific name.
Government bodies
Many local councils and shires have Bushcare or weed officers who can help you identify weeds. Very often, they can advise you about weed control. See the local government directory for council contacts, or check out regional weed resources.
Your local NSW Agriculture office can also assist you with weed identification and, possibly, control information.
If you have found a new or uncommon weed, make sure you inform your local council weed officer. You can also report noxious weeds to NSW Agriculture's weeds hotline.
Herbariums
You can identify a weed at a herbarium, or have it positively identified by professional botanists (this may incur a fee). Provide a specimen of the weed with flowers or fruits, if possible. The Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research provides detailed information on how to collect weed or plant specimens.
A pressed, dried plant specimen allows researchers to confirm the identity of the weed. Specimens stored in herbariums provide evidence of weed distribution over time and across regions, and help to document the spread of invasive weeds.
- Weeds Australia has a good overview of preserving plant specimens and herbariums.
- The Australian National Herbarium in Canberra has a plant enquiry service.
- The Botanical Information Services section of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney has herbarium information and plant identification services.
- Beadle Herbarium at the University of New England, Armidale is in the NSW Northern Tablelands
- Eurobadalla Regional Botanic Gardens Herbarium is on the NSW South Coast
- North Coast Regional Botanic Garden Herbarium is in Coffs Harbour.
Books
Books are also very helpful for weed identification and many are available at local libraries. Good resources include:
- CSIRO (Plant Science) Publishing
- The Plant Identification Bibliography at the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research is a comprehensive list of references to help in identifying native or introduced plants
- Weed Info.com incorporates RG and FJ Richardson Publishers.