White-edged nightshade

(Solanum marginatum)

Progressive Control Pest

White edged nightshade shrub.

White-edged Nightshade is a shrubby perennial that can grow up to 5 metres high.

Plants are conspicuous by spiky, white-ribbed leaves, and fruit being yellow and tomato-like in appearance. Plants are usually found in warm situations in higher rainfall areas on poor, rough land and wasteland.

Reasons for the Strategy

Close up of a white edged nightshade berry.

White-edged Nightshade is a pest of disturbed land, waste areas, and scrub and will invade regenerating shrubland and bush margins. It displaces pasture and forms dense thickets that are impenetrable to humans and stock. The plant also has the ability to invade forest margins and displace native species. The plant is toxic and people have become ill after tasting fruit.

White-edged Nightshade is assessed at “3” on the infestation curve. The known sites are confined to the Richmond Hills, Wairoa Gorge, and the foothills around Nelson. The low incidence of White-edged Nightshade in the Tasman-Nelson region, extensive areas of suitable habitat, and the potential for it to cause significant adverse effects, mean the benefits of progressive control far outweigh the costs.

Objective

To reduce the distribution and density of White-edged Nightshade in the Tasman-Nelson region during the term of the Strategy.

Alternative Measures

The alternative option of “do nothing” or relying on voluntary control will not achieve the objective of reducing the distribution and density of White-edged Nightshade, and will result in significant additional costs to the community with respect to lost production and natural values, and the increased cost of control in the future. Requiring total control is not practical given the long seed viability of White-edged Nightshade.

Strategy Rule for White-edged Nightshade

The occupier shall destroy all adult and juvenile forms of White-edged Nightshade on land that they occupy. A breach of Strategy Rule 5.13.5 is an offence under Section 154(r) of the Biosecurity Act 1993.

Biosecurity Act Requirement

No person shall knowingly sell, propagate, breed, release, or commercially display White-edged Nightshade, under Sections 52 and 53 of the Act.