lukemcooo's Identifications

The clump of Daphne in the photo was the largest clump in the centre of the main outbreak, which extended over an area of about 6 hA of semi open Euc. obliqua forest on fertile soils in good condition with a variety of understory native plants. As well as the central clump this area had perhaps 100 plants of varying sizes from well established bushes to small seedlings. We removed all found plants in summer 2023/24 but unfortunately most of the fruit had set seed and fallen. Any remaining fruit was bagged.
The full known extent of the outbreak covers a further 18hA, mainly to the west of the 6hA block. This consisted of perhaps 50 plants of varying sizes from well established bushes to small seedlings, some of which had set seed this summer. Much of this area is degraded Euc. amygdalina forest with Pinus radiata, hollies and large expanses of Blackberries. The Daphne doesn’t tend to occur amongst the thickest Blackberry areas, more on the margins or in areas of semi open forest in reasonable condition. All found plants have been removed but more scouting is needed to more definitely establish the range and to find any missed plants.
We will need to cover this whole area again in spring/summer 2024/25 to pick up any missed plants and any regrowth. Initially we used cut and paste, cutting off at soil level then applying glyphosate. Eventually we either pulled small plants and grubbed out larger plants using a pick. We will be able to establish if there is any regrowth from the removed plants and which method is most successful.
The third photo shows a plant coming into flower in early May 2024.