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Sand rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia)

Sand Rocket is a common roadside weed and a frequent member of the mustard family in Victoria’s and South Australia’s cropping zones. It can compete with crops and hay, taint grain, meat and dairy produce, and may be poisonous to stock.

Key facts

Type: Weed, herb.

Native to: Western Asia and Europe.

Established in: NSW, ACT, VIC, TAS, SA, WA.

Other names: Sand Mustard, Lincoln Weed.

Best time to act: Look for seedlings growing as rosettes through winter and flowering stems from spring through early autumn, and remove new weeds before they become established.

Identification

  • A perennial, erect, hairless herb, usually 200–800 mm tall, with a long taproot.
  • Its stems and leaves are blue-green with a whitish bloom, and crushed leaves have a strong mustard smell.
  • Stem leaves vary from deeply lobed to coarsely toothed or smooth-edged; rosette leaves occur only at the seedling stage.
  • Yellow to pale yellow flowers have four petals, 8–15 mm long, and appear for much of the year, mainly in warmer months.
  • Narrow pods are 20–60 mm long and 1–2.5 mm wide, with a beak about 2 mm long; the small yellow-brown seeds usually sit in two rows.
  • Look-alike: Wall Rocket (Diplotaxis muralis) is similar, but it is annual and has deep yellow petals up to 8 mm long, smaller than Sand Rocket’s petals.

Where it grows

In Australia it is naturalised in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, especially on roadsides, railway easements, disturbed sites and, occasionally, in pastures.

Why it matters

  • It competes with crops and hay, can reduce crop yields and can make harvesting difficult.
  • Grain may be tainted at harvest, and livestock that eat the plant may produce tainted meat or dairy products.
  • It may be poisonous to stock and has sometimes been suspected of causing deaths of stock and humans.
  • It mainly invades poor-quality pastures and disturbed open environments, and is usually found at the edges of good-quality native vegetation rather than within it.

How it spreads

  • Seed is the main means of spread; water can carry seed, particularly in riparian areas and on steep terrain where runoff and erosion occur.
  • Contaminated soil, fodder, vehicles, cultivation equipment, harvested produce and road or railway maintenance can move seed.
  • Root fragments can also spread on cultivation equipment, but this is less significant in Australia than spread by seed.

Control options

  • Clean cultivation, harvesting and road maintenance equipment thoroughly after working in infested areas.
  • Remove individual plants by hand or hoe, taking care to remove most of the taproot because regrowth can occur.
  • Deep ploughing can control the weed, especially when followed by further cultivation to return seedlings and regrowth to the soil.
  • Registered herbicides can be effective, but choose treatments carefully; some South Australian cereal-crop populations are resistant to Group B/2 herbicides.

Hygiene and washdown

  • Clean soil and plant material from vehicles and cultivation, harvesting and road maintenance equipment used in infested areas.
  • Check hay and crop seed from infested paddocks for Sand Rocket seed, and monitor sites where feed is laid out for new weeds.
  • 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: Not prohibited or restricted. Not listed as prohibited or restricted matter in Queensland. 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: Regionally controlled / restricted weed (varies by region). Where it is regionally controlled, landowners must take all reasonable steps to prevent its growth and spread on their land. Where it is a restricted weed, trade in it (including the plant, its seed or contaminated material) is prohibited.
  • South Australia: Declared plant. Depending on the declaration, it can be an offence to move it on public roads or sell it, and landowners may be required to control it on their land.
  • Western Australia: Permitted, not declared. Listed as a permitted organism in WA, so it can be brought in, but it is not a declared pest.
  • Tasmania: Not declared. Not a declared weed in Tasmania. Other laws may still apply.
  • Northern Territory: Not declared. Not on the NT A to Z weed list, and Weeds Australia does not list it as declared in the NT. Check the NT declared weeds list before moving or planting it.
  • 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.

  • New South Wales: Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW), administered by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
  • Australian Capital Territory: Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT), administered by ACT Biosecurity
  • Victoria: Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 (Vic), administered by Agriculture Victoria
  • Tasmania: Biosecurity Act 2019 (Tas), administered by Biosecurity Tasmania
  • South Australia: Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (SA), administered by the regional landscape board
  • Western Australia: Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (WA), administered by the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Sources