Plant name: Bracken Fern (alternative names: Common Fern and Austral Bracken
Botanical name: Pteridium esculentum
Declared: An environmental weed….
Bracken Fern is a native of Australia and is prevalent throughout the coastal area of the north coast and also occurs in all states of Australia. The plant will survive in most soil types and tolerates both fire and drought. The complex underground system called rhizomes makes Bracken Fern a difficult plant to control as it is prone to regrow following both chemical and mechanical treatment. Cultivation assists in the regrowth due to the broken rhizome pieces with each section capable of producing new plants. Bracken Fern is suspected of causing cattle deaths by stock eating the fronds of plants and death may still occur weeks after the stock have been removed from infested areas. Leaves known as "fronds" are deeply divided and leathery on robust brown stalks approximately 60-120cms high.
Been trying to get rid of this stuff along one side of the house in a raised garden bed. The root system is amazing, keeps coming back but I do have it under control.
