Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Berkheya rigida (Thunb.) Ewart, Jean White & B. Rees

Synonyms

Stobaea rigida Thunb.

Family

Asteraceae (Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory)
Compositae (South Australia)

Common Names

African thistle, berkheya, berkheya thistle, Augusta thistle, Hamelin thistle

Origin

Native to southern Africa (i.e. Cape Province in South Africa).

Naturalised Distribution

Naturalised in some parts of southern Australia (i.e. in the coastal districts of south-western Western Australia, in Tasmania, in southern and western Victoria and in southern South Australia). This species in not yet widely distributed in Australia and is mostly represented by scattered infestations. In Tasmania it has only been reported from King Island in Bass Strait, and these populations are thought to have been eradicated.

Notes

African thistle (Berkheya rigida) is regarded as a minor or potential environmental weed in Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia. It is a weed of sandy sites and pastures that can be locally abundant, particularly in coastal environs. It spreads via creeping underground stems and can form large colonies. This species is thought to have been introduced from South Africa in ships ballast many years ago.

African thistle (Berkheya rigida) is thought to pose a potential threat to one or more vegetation formations in Victoria, and is listed as an environmental weed in the Mornington Peninsula Shire. It has also been recorded growing in reasonably intact native vegetation in south-western Western Australia (e.g. in coastal areas near Augusta).