Gazania (Gazania linearis)
Gazania is a member of the Daisy family and has large clumps of yellow, and orange flowers. These are present from Winter to the early Summer. Gazania weed is drought tolerant, and forms a thick mat, that displaces the surrounding vegetation.
After you read this you will be able to:
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Identify Gazania sp.
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Know its habitat.
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Know the best control options.
This weed is an annual in cool climates, and in warmer climates like Sydney, a short-lived perennial. Gazania is an environmental weed in VIC, TAS and SA. In parts of WA and NSW it is an emerging or potential environmental weed. The images on this page were taken in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney in 2023.
Gazania flowers are light-sensitive, and the flowers close up at night and on cloudy days. This is called nyctinasty. and you can also see this in Morning Glory and Wood Sorrel.
It spreads by short, underground stems, and is very tolerant of frost, drought and saline soils.
Gazania Identification.
It is a drought-tolerant perennial herb with a system of shallow-rooted rhizomes.
Flowers: The flowers are yellow or orange, and are 5 to 9 cm across.
Leaf shape: The leaves are lance shaped, and lobed
Leaf edge: The leaves are smooth and not toothed or divided in any way.
Height: Gazania are up to 30 cm tall.
Leaf length: The leaves are thin and 5 to 10 cm long.
Leaf width: The leaves are 3 to 20 mm wide.
Reproduction: Gazania spreads by seed and also vegetatively.
Comments: The leaves are bright green to dark green or silver on top, and very hairy underneath. An average plant produces large numbers of seeds. The seeds spread by animals, water and human activity.
Habitat: You often see Gazania in disturbed sandy areas such as roadsides and coastal dunes. It prefers open, sunny sites, and is thought to have allelopathic properties.
Gazania weed is often mistaken for Capeweed, Catsear and Sowthistle.
How to remove Gazania from your lawn.
Cultural control of Gazania.
- Hand pull or use a weeding tool to ensure you remove the underground rhizome with the plant.
- Manually remove all year round before seed sets. Cut off flowerheads at the end of flowering to reduce spread via the wind.
- It is important to remove all Gazania roots and dispose of them to avoid regrowth. You should bag off the flower heads, and then remove them off site. Be aware that the flower heads can still develop into mature flower heads, and produce masses of viable seed.
- Mowing is not effective unless repeated regularly and close to the ground.
Chemical control of Gazania.
Chemical control of Gazania weed is difficult because of its hairy leaves, and its ability to reshoot from root and stem fragments.
The best time to control this weed is when it is a seedling. However, once Gazania develops a deep root system control is much more difficult to control.
A major issue with chemical control is that they become semi-dormant during the Summer or any period of extended drought. At this time they are very resistant to the uptake of herbicides, and so control is very difficult under these conditions.
The best time to treat Gazania weed is in the Winter and Spring, after rain or irrigation encourages vigorous growth.
It is also best to spray before it flowers, as Gazania tends to harden up once flowering ends. It then becomes more difficult to treat.
In areas like Canberra, any frost also impacts on success. Frost stresses Gazania weed and so limits chemical uptake.
MCPA plus Voltage MSO works against Gazania weed, but you may need repeat treatments.
Non Selective Control of Gazania.
The best time to apply herbicides is in the Autumn or Spring, but you will get good results any time the plants are actively growing.
- Permit 13371 (exp.2027) allows the use of Glyphosate. Spray plants until just wet with a mix of 25 mL Glyphosate (800 g/Kg) in 10 L water plus 25 mL of Scrubwet.
- For roadside and overall spraying use 200 g/ha of Clopyralid plus 0.25% v/v of a wetting agent like Optispread 1000.
If you use glyphosate and have water quality concerns we recommend you use ProForce Manta Ray.
Other non selective options for Gazania include:
