Ochna

Ochna serrulata

Ochna, or Mickey Mouse Plant, is a priority invasive plant for the Sunshine Coast Region, as well as being identified as a priority in our own Weed Management Strategy. Ochna is not a prohibited or restricted invasive plant under the Biosecurity Act 2014, however we intend to limit its spread at Crystal Waters. Further information on Ochna can be found here: Ochna

Information and Identification

Ochna serrulata is originally from Africa and has been widely planted as an ornamental in Australia. Birds love the fruit so it has spread into bushland, where it can become invasive and form very dense thickets.

Identification:

• Upright woody shrub to about 4m tall (the literature says only 1.5m, but they get much bigger here!)
• Shiny green alternate leaves with serrated margins
• Bright yellow flowers (which aren’t particularly conspicuous)
• Bright red fruits which develop black seeds hanging below the old flowers, which are very conspicuous – I’ve walked past plants numerous times without noticing them until they suddenly produce fruit and become very conspicuous
• They have a long tap root which is easily broken off and can resprout.

Impacts

Environmental

Invades bare areas of disturbed riparian habitat, as well as other bushland areas.

Distribution at Crystal Waters

Ochna is widespread around the property. I’d say the main areas are along the Mary River and Kilcoy Creek, in the centre of the property from Dooja Dell across to the Ecopark, and in the vicinity of Lots 29-31, but I’ve found it in plenty of other places as well. As far as I know we don’t have any dense thickets of it – the worst I have found was a a group of around 30 large ones (3-4m tall) with numerous small ones around them on the eastern side of the Tropical Orchard Ridge. Mostly we find single or just a few plants in any location.

Control methods and efforts

Very small seedlings can be fairly easily pulled out by hand, especially if the soil is moist. Smaller plants can be grubbed out with a mattock, taking care to get the whole root. For larger plants we generally cut and dab them with glyphosate. Sometimes a second treatment is needed to kill them. They can be pulled out with a “tree-popper”, too: Evan M. shared these photos:

As there are mostly only scattered plants, we generally deal with them while working on other weeds such as lantana, tacoma, etc.