Weed of the Month: Leucaena leucocephala

Invasive speciesWeedsHi TidingsEnvironment
Written By Angela Hoskins

This article was first published in Hi Tidings in December 2023.

By Rae Wear (Rae is from the Native Nursery on Coochiemudlo Island)

Leucaena leucocephala is among the top 100 most invasive species worldwide.Growing up to 10 meters high, with long canes and compound, ferny green leaves. The fluffy, cream, wattle-like flowers are followed by pods that turn from green to brown. Each pod contains up to 25 seeds, which are dispersed by animals, wind or water. Leucaena supplants native vegetation and is difficult to eradicate once established. It grows all over Coochiemudlo but is most prolific on the island's Western side on the Emerald Fringe and around the Community Hall. It is native to Central and South America and was planted for fodder in Queensland. Its further spread was encouraged when the Japanese Imperial Army introduced it as camouflage to many Pacific Islands during World War II.

Native alternatives

Native alternatives are Acacia fimbriata (Brisbane wattle), Hakea florulenta or Melaleuca sieberi.

For more information about Leucaena, see Brisbane City Council’s weed identification tool.

Angela Hoskins

Built my first site in 2000 and steadily learned what it takes to make websites work. Dabbled in WordPress back then, still do. Since building my first Squarespace site in 2016, I’ve been impressed with the relatively streamlined approach to website design and development that Squarespace offers compared to WordPress. SEO was a major challenge from the start — I’ve spent a lot of time keeping up with what’s required to get sites working, ranking well on a SERP. I have confidence with what Squarespace offers for SEO.

Having worked for more than 10 years in the web team of an inland, regional university in Australia and dealing with frustrations that come with working for a large corporate enterprise, the idea of setting up my own web design business became my goal.

Set up my business in late 2017. Opted for a sea change, too: I now live on Coochiemudlo Island 45 minutes from Brisbane. Love working from home. Love working for small business clients. Still get casual work with the university.

Challenges? The main one is pricing my work for small businesses. Doing quality work, doing the research to be up to date in the industry, takes time; it’s hard to factor in this time to my pricing while being competitive in the market and affordable for many small businesses.

https://sitecontent.com.au
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