Have you spotted any Arum Lily lately?

Concerned landholders are reporting clumps of Arum Lily along the Blackwood River foreshore. Arum Lily is flowering now so its easy to spot. Currently we are seeing isolated patches but left uncontrolled our area could end up with wall-to-wall lilies as is seen other parts of the south west. When patches of Arum Lily reach large-scale coverage, it becomes extremely difficult and expensive to manage them.

Now is the best time to address Arum Lily. If we act early, “go early- go hard”, we can remove this declared weed from our natural areas.

Arum Lily is found in creeks, irrigation ditches and areas of summer-moist land in the higher rainfall south west of WA, often forming large dense clumps. It competes with valuable perennial pasture plants on summer land. It has been claimed to cause eczema in humans. Stock deaths have occurred from grazing Arum Lily. Arum Lily can spread by both seed and roots.

What can YOU do if you see this invasive weed in our area?

• Report your sighting using the My PestGuide Reporter app (a WA Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development (DPIRD) app - we encourage you to use this app which will automatically map the location of sighting)

1. Download MyPestGuide Reporter app on your phone or tablet

2. Open the app's main menu and "create a report"

3. Use the app's camera icon to take pictures

4. Choose the drop-down menu to send your report to Blackwood Biosecurity

5. Finish with your details and then "send"

6. Reports sent to BBI via this app enable us to respond directly to you

• Report to BBI by website, e-mail or phone (to enable an effective response, please provide details of location such as GPS coordinates)

• If it’s in a public area: you can remove the flowers to prevent birds spreading the seeds further.

• If it’s on your property:

Manual control is very difficult due to the large underground biomass. You must ensure all bits of the root system are removed to avoid plant return.

Chemical control - “Southern Weeds and their Control”, a DPIRD publication recommends chemical control by spraying, while Arum Lily is flowering, using 1-gram metsulfuron (600g/kg) plus a wetting agent in a 10-litre backpack.

For more assistance, please contact BBI at:

info@blackwoodbiosecurity.org.au or by phone at: 0477 049 967 Find out more about Arum Lily at: DPRID Arum Lily: declared pest