Sometimes it really pays to know what's a local native and what's an introduced species, because it can mean the difference between hours of weeding work on the one hand, and just relaxing and admiring a natural area or garden on the other.
This is one species that really caught me out when we were new to Illawarra and didn't know any of the plants. It just appeared in the garden one day, a small plant in a shady spot. Within a few weeks, there were several plants, and they were running all through the understorey. Panic stations!
Nothing weedy must be allowed into our beautiful 'native' garden, and extirpation activity started immediately. It was only by chance, while bushwalking with someone who knew the area, that we discovered it was actually a local native species.
It's known as Pennywort (scientific name Hydrocotyle tripartita) and it's a low-growing ground cover that loves damp part-sun spots. The leaves usually have three separate segments (like Clovers), though sometimes it's up to five segments, and the leaf margins can be a bit toothy, giving them a delicate and quite ornamental appearance.
Once I knew what it was, and knew what to look for, I found Pennywort growing absolutely all over the place along the escarpment, particularly in damper areas. Sometimes it's out on its own, colonising a bit of bare earth, while other times it's mixed in with other native grasses and understorey plants.
In our little escarpment foothills garden, it cohabits with another Pennywort species often known as Lawn Water Pennywort (Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides), which doesn't have such deeply divided leaves. They take turns dominating the paths and clearings, depending on how wet and sunny it is. I love the fact that these kinds of plants manage themselves in a garden situation with minimal human input – now I know that they are actually local!
Some people do, of course, consider certain indigenous species to be weeds, or 'problem plants' in garden or other cultivated situations. And some species can be difficult to manage, depending on the purpose of the area in question. But for me, once I knew the Pennywort was local, I was relieved to take an item off the 'to do' list.
Emma Rooksby is the coordinator of the Growing Illawarra Natives website