What’s ugly about this beautiful purple bloom. Well it’s s a curse.
Paterson’s Curse to be exact or in South Australia it goes by the less innocuous name, Salvation Jane.
Introduced from the Mediterranean it’s now Australia’s dominant weed, estimated to effect over 30 million acres of pasture. It’s drought resistant, chokes out native plants and is toxic to livestock.
Still its great for making honey and a thing of beauty to the ignorant traveller.