Many easy-to-grow plants are attractive to pop in the garden, however many of them escape and should not be planted as they are detrimental to native plants and can easily take over. Pots of Trad regularly pop up and are available for sale on the island.
Trad, short for Tradescantia fluminensis, is a significant environmental weed in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. Wandering Trad is originally from Brazil and is also known as Wandering Jew, Trad, Creeping Christian, Wandering Tradescantia, Water Spiderwort, Wandering Willie and Wandering Creeper.
It is fast-growing and known to cause allergic reactions in pets and in some people, characterised by red, itchy skin. Some people may experience swelling of lips and wheezing and it is classified as mildly toxic.
Trad is a perennial (long lived), semi-succulent, shiny-green, trailing to erect herb. Stems develop roots at the nodes (the part of a stem where leaves or branches arise.) along its hairless and somewhat succulent stem. The leaves clasp the stem and are alternately arranged, and it has a white 1cm flower arranged in small groups.
Stamens (pollen-bearing stalks, male parts) are free, filaments white, woolly to bearded at the base, and are yellow-tipped. Wandering Trad out-competes native vegetation and smothers the ground by sending out roots at each node (leaf joint). It completely dominates the ground layer, preventing the germination of shrub and tree species. Wandering Trad does not set seed.
All spread of the weed occurs from stem segments that will readily take root when in contact with the soil. Stem fragments easily break off and may be dispersed by water, vehicles, machinery such as lawnmowers and slashers, in dumped garden waste or in contaminated soil through soil movement.
Stem segments can survive for a year without roots or contact with the soil. Several species of Trad have naturalised in some areas, and they differ from Wandering Trad in having leaves that are purplish underneath.
Spraying with selective or non-selective herbicides will work eventually but repeat treatments of regrowth will be needed. Small infestations can be removed by hand or by raking and rolling up the stems.
Very small infestations can be dug out, but every fragment of stem can potentially regrow and therefore needs to be removed and destroyed off-site. If you have Trad, keep it in a pot indoors, do not put it in compost or plant in the garden and ensure that disposal cannot spread the plant.