24 October 2011

What plant is this?

| longshanks
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spiky bush

Hi there – I was hoping to harness some collective RiotACT knowledge to identify what this horrible spiky plant is.

It’s currently about 3m tall and 2m wide and in the process of taking over the garden…

Cheers

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Yep, looks like pyrocantha (firethorn):

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=pyracantha&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=661&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=OnClTrbhLqufiAfRyvXnBg&sqi=2&ved=0CD4QsAQ

There is a hedge of it bordering a little park near my place. The Weeds and Seeds people come every year and prune it – very carefully and from a safe distance. The berries are pretty though.

Good intruder deterrent along a fenceline, but high maintenance.

screaming banshee8:11 pm 24 Oct 11

Triffid?

Looks a bit like Acacia Paradoxa.

Prickly little buggers

Holden Caulfield5:16 pm 24 Oct 11

Green.

I’m going to go with Pyracantha. I just removed most of one from my front garden. Use something with long handles to cut because the bastard will bite you no matter how thick and long your gloves are. Those thorns are nasty! I used a chainsaw to cut my way into the centre and then cut the bastard down a bit at a time. Your arms will look like you tried to administer a pill to a cat by the time you are finished.

Corkhills refused to take the dead carcass. They didn’t want the thorns in their compost – which sounded fair enough to me. So now I have a stump that needs moving. Anyone know somebody with a stump grinder in Tuggeranong who does cash jobs?

pyracantha

If you really need to know – you can pay a proper scientist 🙂 Plant Identifications: $16.50 per specimen – http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/plant_info/identifying_plants/plant_identification_service – I’ll ask around at work (CSIRO) for you..check back tomorrow

Sorry, I should have given some sort of scale for the photo. If it helps, the buds are pretty small – approx 3mm across.

Some species of Bougainvillea? The thorns look a lot like those.

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