Trad

(Also known as Tradescantia, Wandering Jew)

Tradescantia fluminensis

Family: Commelinaceae

Type of weed:

Flower colour(s):

Priority Weed Local Priority Weed. (See more weeds of the class.)

Flowering Months: , , , , , , ,

Description

Trad is a rapidly growing, scrambling perennial herb with soft, succulent stems that root at nodes to form large clumps.

Leaves are 2.5–5.5 cm long, the leaf-blade with minute hairs on the margins, narrowing toward the base and then expanding to a broad sheath around the stem, the upper margin of the sheath with long hairs.

Flowers are small, white with three triangular petals 7–10 mm long. It flowers spring to autumn.

Seeds are grey, about 1 mm long.

Note: Trad causes dermatitis in dogs if they roll in it.

Don’t confuse with…

Trad can be confused with the native plant Commelina (Commelina cyanea).

Commelina has blue flowers and weak fleshy roots. Trad leaves are usually purple on the back of the leaf and are broader and shorter, on thicker stems. Trad is noticeably hairy at the nodes, whilst the hair is very hard to see on Commelina.

The native Basket Grass (Oplismenus spp.) is sometimes confused with Trad as they both have similar shaped leaves, but Trad leaves are fleshy and glossier.

Dispersal

Trad spreads by fragments of stem that easily root, in dumped garden waste and when fragments of stem are washed down waterways.

Impact on bushland

Trad grows rapidly in damp, shaded, nutrient enriched areas.

Trad forms a thick blanket of leaves that excludes light from native ground cover and smothers low growing native plants and seedlings. It prevents native plant regeneration and dramatically reduces biodiversity.

Distribution

,

Alternative planting

Native plants

  • Weeping Meadow Grass (Microlaena stipoides)
  • Native Violet(Violai hederacea)
  • Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens)

Council provides a tool, on its Mountain Landscapes website, to help you choose native alternative plantings. Choose your village, soil, vegetation community and the purpose of your planting, and the tool will give you suggestions.

There are native nurseries in several Blue Mountains villages, including Glenbrook, Lawson and Katoomba. Please also ask at your favourite local nursery.

Control

  • Hand remove
  • Spray

Manual control

Hand remove

Take hold of one runner and gently pull it along the ground towards you. Check points of resistance where fibrous roots grow from the nodes. Cut roots with a knife or dig out with a trowel and continue to follow the runner. The major root systems need to be removed manually or scrape/cut and painted with herbicide. Bag any reproductive parts.

Chemical control

Note: Herbicides that may be used for this weed include Glyphosate.

Spraying

Please consult the Herbicide page of this website to help you decide whether to spray, how to do it safely and more.

Specific control tips for this weed

Trying to remove this weed is tricky because the stem breaks so easily at the nodes.

There are several methods available depending on the size of the infestation. if there is a large area to remove rake back all the trad into a pile or long sausage and cover with black plastic to assist in composting the weed.

All parts of the plant must be removed as it can easily put down new roots from any fragment.

  • Hand remove using a knife, taking care to remove all parts of the plant.
  • Raking and rolling the Trad towards you into coils which are easy to pick up and remove.
  • Trad is easily composted, or treat by putting it into or under black plastic and leaving it in a sunny place to bake for approximately six weeks, or feed to chooks.
  • Large patches of dense Trad that are away from water and have no native plants can be treated with herbicide.

Staged control is preferable to widespread rapid control because Trad can act as a filter for stormwater runoff and as a buffer to other weeds. It is recommended to treat small areas and check what native plant or weed regeneration occurs in response to the removal of Trad,

Refer to the NSW Department of Primary Industry’s WeedWise website for more information.

For key points on these techniques:

Local Priority Weed

Control measures:

  • The plant should be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed.
  • Plants under 4 metres in height should be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed.
  • The spread of this plant should be adequately contained to prevent spread impacting on priority assets. Weed notices will only be issued for these weeds under special circumstances.