Identifying weeds

There are approximately 1400 naturalised plant species in Queensland, and an average of 12 new weeds become established each year. Almost 10% of these naturalised species are listed as prohibited or restricted under the Queensland Biosecurity Act 2014 . Prevention and early intervention are the most cost-effective ways of dealing with potential, new and emerging weeds.

How to identify weeds

You can use online tools, publications and apps to help you identify weeds.

These include:

• the iNaturalist app, a partner of Atlas of Living Australia
• James Cook University’s list of North Queensland weeds
• Brisbane City Council’s weed identification tool
• Weeds Australia’s weed identification tool
• Weeds Australia’s profiles for Weeds of National Significance
• Environmental Weeds of Australia identification tool
• the KeyBase plant identification tool
• the Weed pocket guide: agricultural and environmental weeds of Far North Queensland.

The Queensland Herbarium provides a free plant identification service to the public. Fees may apply to commercial clients.

Biosecurity Queensland provides a full list of prohibited, restricted and other invasive plants.

How to report weeds

If you suspect that you have found a weed that is a prohibited or restricted (Category 2,3,4&5) invasive plant, report it to Biosecurity Queensland  within 24 hours.

Why we identify and report weeds

Identifying and reporting invasive plants in Queensland can help to:

• track changes in weed distribution and abundance over time
• detect new weed incursions before they become established.

This information is used to plan how we can minimise the impacts of invasive plants on the environment, agriculture and our way of life.

Under the Biosecurity Act 2014 , everyone in Queensland has a general biosecurity obligation (GBO) to ensure that they do not spread a pest, disease or contaminant.

We are all responsible for:

• managing biosecurity risks (such as weeds) that are under our control
• reporting sightings of prohibited and restricted (Category 2,3,4&5) invasive plants.

Join the search

Weed Spotters Network Queensland is a citizen science project that aims to detect and report new and emerging high-risk priority weeds before they become established in Queensland.

Weed spotters:

• keep watch for new weed incursions in their local area
• report suspected sightings of high-risk priority weeds
• provide images, data and specimens to the Queensland Herbarium for identification, data capture and mapping.