It looks pretty, but the white weeping broom is a fast-spreading, invasive plant that is threatening biodiversity in Western Australia's coastal towns.
The plant has "taken over" Preston Beach in WA's South West, leading to calls for more to be done to remove it and stop people from selling or planting it.
Noel Dew, a volunteer beach ranger in the Preston Beach area, said he did not realise the plant growing freely around his home town was so invasive until it was pointed out to him by someone who recognised it as the white weeping broom.
"He said 'oh my gosh, do you know what that plant is?' And I said 'all I know is it's a very pretty flower', and he said 'well it's a monster'," Mr Dew said.
"I started to do some research into it and what I found was quite horrifying."
For years, communities in South West WA have battled to stamp out another seemingly elegant flower, the arum lily, otherwise known as the "death lily" or the "cane toad of the South West".
Now another battle has started against the white weeping broom.
"It's spreading itself all over the place," Mr Dew said.
"We have a pretty but fragile dune system and that's the area that I'm extremely concerned about.
"We're also surrounded by the Yalgarup National Park, and Waroona is well-known for its farmland. There's the potential for it to get into farmland.
"If we leave it it will be too late."
Why not let it spread?
The white weeping broom is an introduced Mediterranean shrub that is fast-spreading and difficult to control.
It has already spread widely in parts of South Australia.
Peel-Harvey Catchments Council's Karen Bettink said over the past twenty years the plant had also spread through coastal areas in southern WA, including in Perth.
"As an ornamental plant, more than likely it was introduced as a garden specimen and it's gone from there," she said.
"It's an aggressive spreader so it can compete with and consume other plants."
The white weeping broom is not a declared weed in Western Australia, unlike in South Australia.
Ms Bettink said that should be looked at.
"It's at the stage where it's beginning to explode. It's at the stage where it should be looked at to be declared," she said.
The plant has been listed on the Australian Government's alert list for environmental weeds which has identified 28 species of weeds in the early stages of establishment that could become a threat to biodiversity.
Council moves to stamp out plant
The Shire of Waroona has called for more action on a statewide-level to deal with the spread of the plant in Western Australia.
In the meantime, shire president Mike Walmsley said council would work to put a ban on anyone selling or planting the white weeping broom in the Preston Beach area.
"If people have found to have it on their property … they will be obliged to remove it or control it the best they can," he said.
"I think it will be quite wise to stop the selling of it or the distribution of it because it will turn into a bit of a nightmare going forward."
He said while it could take a year to put the law in place, it was an important step to take.
"We're looking at removal and not having any out there. In the space of a few short years it has really taken over a lot of the areas," Mr Walmsley said.
