Fireweed is a declared pest and must be eradicated from CW.

The plant produces small lemon-yellow flowers which can be hard to spot in longer grasses.

The flower has around 13 petals which slope away from the seed head. Plants can have multiple seed heads capable of producing around 200 seeds per head which are wind borne. If it had remained undetected, the seedheads at right on this plant would have advanced to seed distribution within a week.

Juvenile 'Cats Ear' flowers can be mistaken with fireweed at a casual glance, which hampers detection work for non-experienced weeders.

We have mown strips in the main fireweed area around the dams near lots 20, 22, 24 and 25 to aid in detection and methodical walking of the area.

Fireweed is best controlled non-toxically by being manually picked by those with a keen trained eye.

A haul of plants - many spotted before seed head developement.

It is very important to wash down machinery and vehicles that have been operating in areas where fireweed is known to exist. In particular machinery used in digging and slashing.