- Type
- Shrub or small tree
- Status in NSW
- Must be reported and eradicated in Port Macquarie-Hastings (North Coast regional priority). Should not be bought, sold or moved.
Coffee bush, also called leucaena, was planted as cattle fodder and is now an emerging weed on the North Coast. Port Macquarie-Hastings is in the zone where it must be wiped out, so if you find it, report it to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and they will help control it.
How to identify it
Coffee bush is a shrub or small tree, usually 2 to 8 metres tall. Look for:
- soft, fern-like leaves divided into many small, pointed leaflets
- round, fluffy, creamy-white pom-pom flowers 15 to 20 mm across, mostly in summer
- dense clusters of flat, glossy brown pods 8 to 18 cm long, produced all year
Don't confuse it with native coffee bush (Breynia oblongifolia), a different plant with single leaves and small round berries. Mimosa bush is another look-alike, with pink-tinged pom-poms and sparser foliage.
Where it grows
Coffee bush likes warm, frost-free country and well-drained soils. It grows in full sun or part shade but not under a forest canopy, so it spreads along roadsides, paddock edges, creek banks and cleared land.
Why it's a problem
- It quickly forms dense thickets on ungrazed land, crowding out native plants and blocking access.
- It reduces food and shelter for native animals.
- The leaves contain mimosine, which can harm livestock when it makes up too much of their diet. Talk to your vet if stock graze it.
How to control it
Report it first: Port Macquarie-Hastings Council will control coffee bush when it is reported. If you are treating it yourself, combine methods and follow up.
- Dig out small plants, removing all of the root.
- Cut and paint: cut low and apply herbicide to the stump within 15 seconds.
- Basal bark: apply herbicide mixed with diesel around the whole lower stem.
- Stem injection works for larger trees.
Act before the pods ripen. Always follow the herbicide label.
Safety and disposal
- Don't move plants or seed pods off your property.
- Check hay brought onto the property for seed, and clean mud off vehicles and machinery leaving infested areas.
Stopping it coming back
- Never plant, buy or move coffee bush.
- Report any new plants to the council straight away. Small infestations are easy to remove.
- Check fence lines, laneways and creek banks each year, because birds, possums and cattle spread the seed.
