Almost every Bushcare volunteer has at some time accidentally pulled out a fireweed, and been gently reprimanded by a Bushcare team leader for accidentally removing a native understorey plant.
Yes, it has many hallmarks of a weed, but it is actually a valuable pioneer plant that plays an important role in Hobart’s bushland ecosystems.
Pioneer plant
A member of the daisy family, fireweeds are pioneer plants that stabilise disturbed soil, reduce erosion and prepare the ground for other native plants to return.
Their quick growth helps landscapes recover after fire or other forms of disturbance, both natural and unnatural. For this reason, chances are you have passed fireweed on almost every walk you have ever taken in Hobart!
Tasmania is home to a huge diversity of native Senecio, the scientific name for fireweed plants in the daisy family.
More than 20 types occupy a range of habitats, including along our rivulets and tracks as well as in open bushland and grasslands. There’s even an alpine species of fireweed, Senecio pinnatifolius alpinus, that adorns Kunanyi/ Mt Wellington in late summer with abundant, bright yellow flowers.
Senecio is the scientific name for a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, with more than 1000 species globally.
The daisy flowers of our native fireweed.Rising from the ashes
The name ‘fireweed’ refers to the ability of these plants to regenerate after fire, and, like non-native weeds such as thistle, Senecio will quickly occupy bare soil, often in large numbers.
Environmental weeds are also adept at occupying newly disturbed, bare soil, hence the confusion between fireweed and ‘real’ invasive weeds.
So, if you spot Senecio after ground disturbance it’s a good sign the land has a healthy capacity to recover and large areas covered by Senecio fireweed are highly preferable to the invasion of non-native invasive species – real weeds.
Tasmania’s native Senecio species evolved alongside local ecosystems and play a positive role in natural regeneration cycles.
Supporting our native wildlife
In Tasmania, Senecio linearifolius (fireweed) and Senecio minimus (shrubby fireweed) are the most common and well-known plants.
Across Hobart’s reserves and bushland tracks, flashes of yellow often signal native Senecio at work. These plants, far from being weeds, support soil health and local biodiversity.
Thriving in moist forests, gullies and sheltered bush areas, the bright yellow daisy-like blooms of Senecio attract bees, hoverflies and other pollinators. In wetter forests, these plants also provide understory cover, forming important habitat layers for small animals and invertebrates.
Senecio includes one declared weed – ragwort.
A Bushcare volunteer lost in a sea of native fireweed going to seed.