NOXIOUS: Moth plant seed pod. Image supplied.

MOTH plant is the latest weed in the sights of Weedbuster networks and councils across Auckland. A campaign is under way to raise awareness about the plant, which is one of the worst weeds in the region, and teach people how to get rid of it.

“We are encouraging people to let us know where it’s on public land and remove it from their gardens,” says Su Sinclair, regional Weedbusters co-ordinator and biosecurity community co-ordinator at Auckland Regional Council.

“Moth plant is widespread and we want to raise awareness of what it looks like, its impact and how people can remove it. There will be community events with tips on how to identify the plant and remove it, which can be done in several ways.”

The invasive plant is now showing its “choko-like seed pods”, which release up to a 1000 seeds when they dry and split. Because the seeds can travel a long way, a moth plant could spread to Hauraki Gulf Islands.

The easiest way to kill moth plant is to pull vines and seedlings out and leave them to die on site. If pods are ripe on the vines, people should remove and dispose of them in their general rubbish. The stems of larger plants can be cut and painted with Vigilant herbicide gel to control regrowth, and people who prefer not to use herbicide can cut the stems and check for regrowth regularly.

Moth-plant sap can be a skin and eye irritant, so gloves and long sleeves should be worn when treating it.

It’s classified as a containment pest plant in the Auckland Regional Pest Management Strategy on most of the east coast of Rodney, the Hauraki Gulf islands, the Waitakere Ranges and the Hunua Ranges’ weed control zone. This means landowners are required to remove it from their property.

It is a surveillance and community-initiative pest plant in the rest of the Auckland region and cannot be sold, distributed, propagated or exhibited and landowners are encouraged to remove it. As a community-initiative pest, it allows groups of landowners to control pest plants together.