Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Amaryllis belladonna L.

Family

Amaryllidaceae (New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia)
Liliaceae (Victoria)

Common Names

amaryllis, belladonna, belladonna lily, Easter lily, Jersey lily, Marach lily, naked ladies, naked lady, pink belladonna lily

Origin

Native to south-western Africa (i.e. Cape Province in South Africa).

Naturalised Distribution

Naturalised in many parts of southern Australia (i.e. in the coastal districts of central New South Wales, in some parts of Victoria, in south-eastern and eastern South Australia and in south-western Western Australia). Possibly also naturalised in Tasmania.

Also naturalised overseas in some parts of southern USA (i.e. California and Texas).

Notes

Belladonna lily (Amaryllis belladonna) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and as a minor environmental weed or "sleeper weed" in New South Wales and Tasmania.

This species is currently of most concern in Victoria and appears on numerous local environmental weed lists in this state (i.e. as a new and emerging environmental weed in Mitchell Shire, as an environmental weed in Manningham City, the Shire of Yarra Ranges, Colac Otway Shire, the Shire of Nillumbik and Cardinia Shire, and as a common invasive garden escapee in the Mount Alexander Shire). It has also been recorded in Phillip Island Nature Park and Morwell National Park.

In South Australia, belladonna lily (Amaryllis belladonna) is listed as an invasive plant in bushland in the Adelaide Hills Council district. It has also been recorded in several conservation areas in this state (i.e. in Anstey Hill Recreation Park, Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park, Belair National Park, Blackwood Forest Recreation Park, Scott Creek Conservation Park and Ferguson Conservation Park).

In Western Australia, this species is mainly found persisting around homesteads. However, it is also spreading by seed into karri and marri forest at Arumvale, north of Augusta. In New South Wales it also often persists around settlements and homesteads, while is Tasmania it is present in the Greens Beach/Kelso Coastal Reserve and is possibly a "sleeper weed" in this area.