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Spanish broom (Spartium junceum)

Spanish broom has escaped cultivation and is a minor environmental weed in Australia, with potential to become more serious. It can out-compete native plants, alter soil nutrients and facilitate the invasion of other weeds.

Key facts

Type: Weed, shrub.

Native to: Northern Africa, western Asia and southern Europe.

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

Other names: Weaver's Broom.

Best time to act: Flowers are most conspicuous in late spring to mid-summer, usually October to December; treat plants when they are in full leaf.

Identification

  • This is an upright, perennial, deciduous shrub that usually grows to 3 metres tall and can occasionally reach 5 metres.
  • Its long, slender, upright branches are cylindrical, finely ribbed, grey-green to dark green, and mostly leafless.
  • The leaves are single, entire and oval to oblong, 10–40 mm long, and are shed after a few months.
  • Sweetly fragrant, bright yellow, pea-like flowers grow along branch tips, usually in groups of 5–15 and sometimes up to 30.
  • Its flattened, broom-like pods are 50–100 mm long and contain 10–20 smooth, shiny, brown to yellowish-brown seeds.
  • Look-alike: English or Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) has prominently five-angled branchlets and leaves divided into three leaflets; Spanish broom has rounded, finely ribbed branchlets and undivided leaves.
  • Look-alike: Native Broom (Viminaria juncea) has pendulous branches, young leaves with 1–3 leaflets and much smaller pods, about 4–5 mm long.

Where it grows

In Australia it occurs near towns, old farmhouses and agricultural areas, and in disturbed places such as roadsides, railway lines, urban bushland, streams and roadside drains.

Why it matters

  • It can dominate disturbed areas, out-compete native plants and alter soil nutrients.
  • By fixing nitrogen, it can increase soil nitrogen and facilitate the invasion of other weeds.
  • It may compete with favourable pasture species, and broom species may harbour rabbits.
  • The seeds and leaves are very poisonous if eaten in large quantities, especially to children.

How it spreads

  • As pods dry on warm, sunny summer days, they split and eject seeds; most seeds are reported to fall within a few metres of the parent plant.
  • Seeds may then spread by erosion, rain wash and possibly ants, or by water near streams.
  • Mud on machinery, vehicles and footwear, livestock hooves and wool, and the dumping of garden waste or contaminated soil are also possible routes of spread.

Control options

  • Remove isolated plants, especially before they set seed; seedlings can be hand-pulled or sprayed, and the area needs monitoring for many years because seeds in the soil can keep germinating.
  • For large infestations, use registered herbicides as part of an integrated management plan, applying them when plants are in full leaf and following label and state or territory guidance.
  • Grazing young plants can prevent flowering and seed set, but must continue until the soil seed bank is exhausted.
  • Fire can kill plants and encourage seeds to germinate, but follow-up treatment is needed because lightly scorched plants may resprout and fire without follow-up can worsen the infestation.

Hygiene and washdown

  • Clean mud and seeds from vehicles, machinery such as graders and slashers, and footwear before leaving infested sites.
  • Avoid moving contaminated soil or garden waste that may contain seeds.
  • 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: Regional priority in 1 of 11 regions. Regional priority weed in Greater Sydney. 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: 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: Declared pest, prohibited. It is a declared pest throughout the ACT. Dealing with it, such as selling, moving or keeping it, is prohibited.

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)
  • 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

Sources