The Mauritius hemp and all about it
ILLOVO – Here is what we have learnt about the exotic plants.
Three, large, succulent plants that are growing on the traffic island situated at the intersection of Oxford Road and Corlett Drive in Illovo have started a discussion on a community group.
This after a resident posted about the plants on the I Love Illovo community group, and Rosebank Killarney Gazette dug a little deeper to root out more information.
The Gazette enquired from Markus Scheuermaier of the iHlathi – Melrose-Birdhaven Conservancy who conferred with the Trees in Africa group on Facebook. “The consensus is that it is an agave, which is what I thought as well, and more specifically, it looks like Mauritian hemp. They are exotic, you tend to find them more generally in the Karoo, but there are a few in our area,” Scheuermaier explained.
He shared a further link that revealed the following: Mauritius hemp (furcraea foetida) are native to the Caribbean and tropical South America. The plant is a weed of urban bushland, open woodlands, roadsides and many other areas in the warmer temperate and sub-tropical regions of Australia.
The flowers are heavily fragrant and are produced during autumn and winter. Flowering usually only occurs once, with the whole plant dying about one year after the onset of flowering. Fruit is generally not produced.
Mauritius hemp is regarded as an environmental weed in Western Australia and Queensland. It is known to invade coastal sites and cliffs, gullies, hillsides and open woodlands where it crowds out native species. It is most widespread and problematic in south-eastern Queensland where it is ranked among the top 200 environmental weeds.
The plant is not declared or considered noxious by any state government authorities. Mauritius hemp is very similar to several agaves including the century plant (agave americana).
Details: Read a more detailed report on the Mauritius hemp at https://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/media/Html/furcraea_foetida.htm
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