Weed of the month - Easter Cassia

This weed was a very common garden plant in many Brisbane gardens and now can be found throughout South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales. It is often seen along creek banks and roadsides.

This weed grows as a shrub up to 5 meters tall but more often seen to 3-4 meters. Its leaves grow in an alternate pattern with 3-6 pairs of leaflets. Easter Cassias can be easily seen around Easter when it produces masses of bright yellow flowers. Flowering is followed by hundreds of slender brown seed pods up to 13cm long. Each seed pod contains 5-10 seeds which are carried by wind and water.

This weed can be controlled by the hand pulling of small plants, taking care to remove all the roots. Larger plants can be removed with the used of digging tools such as a mattock. Larger infestations can also be controlled with the use of herbicide.
(Read the label carefully before use and always use the herbicide in accordance with the directions on the label.)

East Cassia is not a declared plant under Queensland legislation but is considered to be a environmental weed.
Some Good, non-invasive alternatives to Easter cassia are native cassia (Cassia spp.) and hop bush (Dodonaea triquetra).

These images kindly supplied by DPI

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