Erigeron karvinskianus
NPPA pest plant
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
Mexican daisy
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledonous composites
Flower colours
Violet/Purple, White
Detailed description
Sprawling perennial daisy to 40 cm tall. Roots fibrous. Stems long, thin, sparsely hairy to hairless, much-branching, rooting, sprawling, 15–70 cm long. Leaves small, narrow (upper leaves usually 3-lobed), fragrant when crushed. Flowers daisy-like, white, white-purplish or pink, central disc yellow to brownish-yellow. Fluffy seeds in profusion.
Similar taxa
Bellis perennis (daisy) has nearly identical flowers, but wider leaves in a basal rosette.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Intact and disturbed bush, shrubland, tussockland, fernland, herbfield, bare land, streamsides, cliffs and bluffs, inshore and offshore islands, gumlands, consolidated sand dunes, most coastal areas, riverbeds, epiphyte niches.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
September–May.
Year naturalised
1940
Origin
Mexico
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
Tolerates moderate shade to full sun, damp to drought, high to low temperature and almost any surface.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Reproduces by seed and occasionally layering in damp sites. Flowers produce masses of fluffy seeds. Spreads mainly by windblown seeds. Other dispersal methods include roadside mowers, machinery, gravel and water actions.
Other information
Etymology
erigeron: From the Greek eri ‘early’ (or ear ‘spring’) and geron ‘old’, possibly alluding to the hairy seed pappus, or perhaps to the hoary appearance of the leaves of some species in the spring.
National Pest Plant Accord species
This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ERIKAR