The Beagle
Jun 12, 2017
The Friends of Durras, South Durras Landcare and NPWS employees have all worked together over many years to control sea spurge along the Murramarang National Park coastline.
South Durras Landcarewere out and about today targeting pseudo capsicum, sea spurge, caper spurge and bitou bush along the Murramarang National Park coastline. They also collected litter including cleaning up campsite areas.
Sea spurge, (Euphorbia paralias) has been spreading along the coast of Australia.
This seeming innocent-looking herbaceous plant originates from the Mediterranean and arrived on the east coast of Australia after being inadvertently introduced about 70 years ago, probably in ship's ballast.
Sea spurge grows to approximately 70 centimetres in height, has multiple stems covered in small, closely packed leaves and is blue green in colour.
An added problem is that the milky sap of the plant is toxic and can cause severe eye irritations. Care needs to be taken not to touch the face when hand pulling sea spurge.
People attempting to remove it must be properly equipped with gloves and good footwear. Because of its dense growth, sea spurge is a threat to shorebirds, including endangered species and to people's enjoyment of our beaches.
Thanks to Friends of Durras for this info