The weeds lists generated for each region are compiled from more than 100 weed publications and regional lists of environmental weeds. These publications and lists represent all the cumulative knowledge and experiences of contributing land managers in the region. All species that solely affect agricultural areas were excluded.

All plant species that appear in the various publications and lists that we used are considered to either have already caused some impact as environmental weeds, or have the potential to cause impact within the region. The severity of the impacts caused by any plant is dependent on a myriad of local factors and therefore varies widely from site to site within each region. Because of this, it is extremely difficult to generalise about whether a plant will cause significant impact at any one site in that region.

We made the assumption that the more lists on which a plant appears; the more likely it is to cause impact within any region. Therefore, if a plant species appeared three or more times in a region, it was placed into the 'serious environmental weeds' list. If a plant species appeared twice, it was placed into the 'environmental weeds to avoid' list. We believe that the final weeds lists for each region are, generally, a fair representation of the potential and actual impact of each species.

It may seem that some plants are unlikely weeds, and some may even appear doubtful as candidates for the garden. However, the tireless enthusiasm of the gardening public for new and interesting plants for their gardens should not be underestimated. All of these plants have 'escaped' from cultivation or garden plantings into the natural environment and many are still currently available for sale to the general public via the internet, or from nurseries around Australia.

We would like to hear your thoughts on this website - please let us know what you think. We would like the opportunity to improve this site and we value your feedback.