Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Trianthema portulacastrum L.

Family

Aizoaceae

Common Names

black pig weed, black pigweed, desert horse purslane, desert horse-purslane, desert horsepurslane, desert purslane, giant pig weed, giant pigweed, horse purslane, lowland purslane, purslane, trianthema

Origin

Native to eastern and tropical Africa (i.e. Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Congo, the Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Malawi and Mozambique), Madagascar, western Asia (i.e. Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iran), the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), China, Taiwan, south-eastern Asia (i.e. Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia), eastern and southern USA (i.e. New Jersey, Missouri, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah), Mexico, Central America (i.e. Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama), the Caribbean and South America (i.e. Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in northern Australia (i.e. in some parts of northern and central New South Wales, throughout Queensland, in many parts of the Northern Territory, and in northern and north-western Western Australia).

Notes

Black pigweed (Trianthema portulacastrum) is a widespread weed of crops and disturbed sites in Australia. It is also regarded as an environmental weed in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and northern Queensland.