Karamu
Karamu is a native New Zealand tree that thrives in cool, wet forests such as those found in Fern Tree.
Listed as a 'noxious weed' in Tasmania, this bushland bully moves into forest and smothers our native flora. Like so many of our bushland weeds karamu started out as a garden plant.
Karamu has become a real bushland destroyer in Victoria but is not yet widespread in Tasmania. In Hobart and Kingborough we have a chance to eradicate karamu before it can do real damage to our forests.
Karamu can envelop forests in massive thickets. This deprives native species of the plants they have evolved with, and creates a monoculture. Karamu is bad news for our native wildlife and our native bushland.
You can find more information about karamu on the Department of Natural Resources and Environment website.
Video
Gardening Australia shows how karamu is threatening Australian native plants and wildlife:
Help eradicate karamu
The City of Hobart is working to eradicate karamu, but we need your help to find it.
If you live near or regularly visit our bushland reserves, you can help by reporting sightings of it.
How to identify karamu
Karamu has shiny leaves, some of which are a bright, tell-tale yellow, which stand out like flags in the forest.
The bright orange berries are very fertile. There's a good chance a karamu bush will be surrounded by seedlings slowly taking over the forest floor.
Karamu can grow up to 6 metres tall. As it spreads it takes out the understorey, then smothers the mid-storey of native forest.
Left to its own devices karamu outcompetes mature eucalypts.
Report your sighting
You can report sightings of karamu directly to our Bushcare team on 03 6238 2884.
You can also use the citizen science app iNaturalist:
The more people who help find karamu and record it, the better our monitoring results and chances of eradicating this weed.