Boneseed and closely related Bitou Bush are two subspecies of Chrysanthemoides monilifera, an invasive species in Australia Boneseed was introduced to Australia as an ornamental garden plant from the mid-nineteenth century, with examples first recorded in gardens in Sydney in 1852 and Melbourne in 1858.
[2] Boneseed was introduced to the You Yangs, south west of Melbourne, Victoria, to control soil erosion.
[3] Not long thereafter, the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science (AIAS) suggested that Boneseed could potentially be "the most important weed on public land in southern Victoria" [4] due to its ability to colonise areas of bushland without the level of significant disturbance often required by other weedy species.
[4] In fact, the AIAS estimated that by 1976 Boneseed had colonised around 405 hectares in the You Yangs, with an even larger area affected on the Mornington Peninsula.
[1] It is predicted that over time C. monilifera could significantly expand its current distribution to almost all of South Eastern Australia apart from the Alps.