Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Stylosanthes viscosa (L.) Sw.

Synonyms

Hedysarum hamatum L. var. viscosum L.

Family

Fabaceae (Queensland, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory)
Fabaceae: sub-family Faboideae (New South Wales)
Leguminosae (South Australia)
Papilionaceae (Western Australia)

Common Names

poor man's friend, sticky stylo

Origin

Native to south-eastern USA (i.e. southern Texas), Mexico, Central America (i.e. Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama), the Caribbean (i.e. Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica) and South America (i.e. French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in northern Australia (i.e. in northern and eastern Queensland, in the north-western parts of the Northern Territory, and in the coastal districts of northern Western Australia).

Also naturalised overseas in Hawaii.

Notes

Sticky stylo (Stylosanthes viscosa) is regarded as a minor environmental weed in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and northern Queensland.