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Java bean (Senna tora)

Java bean is regarded as an environmental weed in northern Queensland and the Northern Territory. It is declared in Queensland and Western Australia, with requirements for landowners and restrictions on trade, sale or movement.

Key facts

Type: Weed, shrub.

Native to: Thought to be native to the Indian sub-continent, southern China, south-eastern Asia and parts of western Polynesia..

Established in: QLD, WA, NT.

Other names: sicklepod, Chinese senna, foetid cassia, peanut weed.

Identification

  • It is an upright, short-lived shrub, usually 50–150 cm tall, but sometimes reaching 2.5 m.
  • Its compound leaves have two to four pairs of rounded-tipped leaflets, with small glands usually between the lowest pairs; the leaves give off a strong unpleasant odour, especially when damaged.
  • Small yellow flowers, each with five petals, grow in pairs in the leaf forks.
  • Its slender, curved pods are 12–25 cm long and 2–6 mm wide, turning brownish-green as they mature; they contain 20–30 shiny, olive-and-brown striped seeds.
  • Look-alike: Sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia) is similar, but usually has two to three pairs of leaflets and pods 6–18 cm long; Java bean usually has two to four pairs and longer pods, 12–25 cm.
  • Look-alike: Hairy senna (Senna hirsuta) has pointed leaflets and pods densely covered in long white hairs, unlike Java bean’s rounded-tipped leaflets and mostly hairless pods.

Where it grows

In Australia it occurs in scattered coastal and sub-coastal parts of northern Queensland and the northern Northern Territory, and has also been recorded in coastal central Queensland, in disturbed sites, waste areas, roadsides, waterways, plantation crops and pastures.

Why it matters

  • It is regarded as an environmental weed in northern Queensland and the Northern Territory.
  • In Queensland, landowners must take all reasonable steps to keep land free of it statewide, and selling the plant or its seed is illegal.
  • In Western Australia, trade, sale or movement into the state is prevented, and it is to be eradicated where found statewide.

How it spreads

  • It reproduces by seed, which can be dispersed by water and by animals that eat the fruit, such as cattle.
  • Seeds may also spread as contaminants of fodder and pasture seed, or in mud adhering to animals, footwear, machinery and vehicles.

Control options

  • Use registered herbicides or other approved methods only in accordance with current local requirements.
  • In Queensland, landowners must take all reasonable steps to keep land free of the species; selling the plant or its seed is illegal.
  • In Western Australia, it is to be eradicated where found, and trade, sale or movement into the state is prevented.

Hygiene and washdown

  • Check and clean footwear, machinery and vehicles to remove mud that could carry seeds.
  • Avoid spreading seed in fodder or pasture seed.
  • Inspect and clean vehicles, plant and footwear before leaving an infested area, paying attention to tyres, radiators, belly plates, tracks and floor mats.
  • Wash down at a designated bay where runoff is contained and can be monitored for seedlings.
  • Record each washdown so the client has evidence of clean entry and exit.

Classification by state

  • Australia (national): No national listing. Managed under state and territory law.
  • Queensland: Restricted matter, category 3. Do not give it away, sell or release it into the environment. Everyone must also take all reasonable and practical steps to minimise its risks (the general biosecurity obligation).
  • New South Wales: Not a priority weed. Not a state or regional priority weed in NSW. The general biosecurity duty applies: anyone dealing with it must prevent, eliminate or minimise the risk it poses.
  • Victoria: Not declared. Not declared under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. Other Victorian laws may still apply.
  • South Australia: Not declared. Not declared under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019. Other laws may still apply.
  • Western Australia: Declared pest (C1), prohibited. C1 Exclusion: to be kept out of WA, or out of the parts of WA where it is not established. Report any sighting to DPIRD. It must not be brought into WA (prohibited organism).
  • Tasmania: Not declared. Not a declared weed in Tasmania. Other laws may still apply.
  • Northern Territory: Check NT list. There is no NT weed profile for it. Check the NT declared weeds list for its current status.
  • Australian Capital Territory: Not declared. Not declared under the Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT). A general biosecurity duty still applies.

Legal obligations

Every state and territory places a duty on landholders and people working on land to prevent the spread of invasive species, such as the general biosecurity obligation in Queensland and the general biosecurity duty in New South Wales. Declarations and control requirements differ between states and local government areas, so check the current official list before work starts.

  • Queensland: Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld), administered by Biosecurity Queensland (13 25 23)
  • Western Australia: Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (WA), administered by the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
  • Northern Territory: Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976 (NT), administered by NT Department of Lands, Planning and Environment

Sources