Garden Escapes

Ochna / Mickey Mouse plant

Ochna serrulata

How does it spread?

Birds and animals eat the fruit and their droppings spread the seeds.

How does it affect us?

Ochna can take over the understorey of dry sclerophyll forest and riparian areas.

When does it seed?

Ochna flowers in September and seeds in October.

Getting rid of Ochna

Manual Control

Remove all the ripe fruit. Dig out seedlings, making sure you get the whole taproot - it has a kink which can break off.

Herbicide control

For larger plants, scrape both sides of the stem with a registered herbicide. For larger stems, make longer scrapes. For large woody stems, drill holes in the stem and inject the herbicide. Spraying can be done if it won't affect other vegetation.

Ochna is a noxious Weed Class 4. This means all land owners must control the growth and spread of this plant on their land, in accordance with the measures specified in a management plan published by the local council authority. The plant may not be sold, propagated or knowingly distributed.

The information here was taken from an information sheet published by Ku-ring-gai Council.

Close this window to return to previous window