La Trobe University researchers have sounded alarm over the brightly coloured gazania daisy—widely sold in nurseries—warning it’s now a “highly invasive plant” across southern Australia. It thrives on roadsides, coastal dunes, farmland, and in low‑rainfall cropping areas, resisting common herbicide treatments . South Australia has already banned its sale, but environmental groups, including the Invasive Species Council, are urging a federal ban to avert further ecological harm. They emphasize that escaped garden plants make up over 70 % of Australia’s weed problems, imposing more than $5 billion in annual losses. Bunnings and other retailers currently tailor sales to state regulations