Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Abutilon grandifolium (Willd.) Sweet

Synonyms

Abutilon mollissimum (Cav.) Sweet (misapplied)
Sida grandifolia Willd.

Family

Malvaceae

Common Names

abutilon, hairy abutilon, hairy Indian mallow, tall abutilon

Origin

Native to South America (i.e. Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in eastern Australia (i.e. in south-eastern Queensland and in many parts of eastern and southern New South Wales). Also naturalised near Perth in south-western Western Australia, sparingly naturalised in Victoria, and naturalised on Norfolk Island.

Naturalised overseas in New Zealand and on some Pacific islands (e.g. Niue, French Polynesia and Hawaii).

Notes

Hairy Indian mallow (Abutilon grandifolium) is regarded as a minor environmental weed or potential environmental weed in south-eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales. This garden escape is a relatively common weed of waste areas, disturbed sites, roadsides and drains, but is also an occasional weed of disturbed and undisturbed natural ecosystems (e.g. tall shrublands, grasslands and riparian areas).

It is relatively common in riparian vegetation in some parts of south-eastern Queensland (e.g. along Enoggera Creek and Ithaca Creek in suburban Brisbane and along Tallebudgera Creek on the Gold Coast). However, it is often mistaken for some of the native mallows (Abutilon spp.), including Asian Indian mallow (Abutilon auritum) and straggly lantern-bush (Abutilon oxycarpum). This species has shown particularly invasive tendencies in the Enoggera catchment in northern Brisbane, where it has spread after being mistakenly introduced into revegetation areas.

Hairy Indian mallow (Abutilon grandifolium) is also locally naturalised along creeks in the Sydney region, is a weed of the Pelican Creek catchment in the Lismore region in northern New South Wales, and has been recorded from disturbed shrubland, river flats and grasslands near Perth in south-western Western Australia.