Karamu
Karamu is a native New Zealand tree that thrives in cool, wet forests such as those found in Fern Tree.
Listed as a ‘noxious weed’ in Tasmania, this bushland bully moves into forest and smothers our native flora. Like so many of our bushland weeds karamu started out as a garden plant.
Karamu has become a real bushland destroyer in Victoria but is not yet widespread in Tasmania, and in Hobart and Kingborough we have a chance to eradicate karamu before it can do real damage to our forests.
Karamu can envelop forests in massive thickets, depriving native species of the plants they have evolved with and creating a monoculture. Karamu is bad news for our native wildlife and our native bushland.
Help eradicate karamu
The City of Hobart is working to eradicate karamu, but we need your help to find it.
We need people who live in Hobart, especially those living near bushland or who regularly visit our bushland reserves, to help stop the spread of this weed by reporting sightings of it.
How to identify karamu
Karamu has shiny leaves, some of which are a bright, tell-tale yellow, which stand out like flags in the forest.
The bright orange berries are not always visible, but they are very fertile, and if you find a karamu bush there’s a good chance it will be surrounded by karamu seedlings slowly taking over the forest floor.
Karamu can grow up to 6 metres tall and as it spreads takes out the understorey, then smothers the mid-storey of native forest.
Left to its own devices karamu outcompetes mature eucalypts.
Report your sighting
You can report sightings of karamu directly to our Bushcare team on 03 6238 2884 or by using the citizen science app iNaturalist.
To start:
The more people who help find karamu and record it the better our monitoring results and chances of eradicating this weed.
Video: How karamu threatens our native plants and animals
Watch this episode from Gardening Australia to see how karamu is threatening Australian native plants and wildlife.
The City of Hobart is working to eradicate this weed under a Weed Action Grant. These grants are provided by the Tasmanian Government to tackle weeds that are impacting valuable agricultural and environmental assets.