TAUHINU

Tauhinu – Cassinia leptophylla

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This plant is also often if incorrectly known as “tawhini” and pronounced as tar-winny. 

DESCRIPTION

Tauhinu is a New Zealand native perennial scrub species.

Note: We would not normally advocate the control of a native plant, but tauhinu is causing severe infestation problems for some growers who have no option but to limit its spread and impact. We do not advocate the total eradication of tauhinu, nor even its control without regard to circumstances.  

Tauhinu commonly grows to about 2 metres high, but occasionally to as much as 5 metres, has smallish leaves up to about 10mm in length and 3mm wide, and appears at first glance somewhat similar to the manuka. There are however some points of difference that will aid in distinguishing the two species. Tauhinu leaves are grey-green and more rounded at the tip end, while manuka leaves are more pointed. The underside of the tauhinu leaf is whitish in colour and downy in texture, while the manuka leaves are more uniform all over.

A further distinguishing feature is the flower. Manuka has striking pink/white flowers, while the tauhinu has creamy white flowers and produces seed-heads with fluffy whitish pappus protruding from them, to permit the seeds to be distributed by the wind.

The tauhinu is widely distributed in New Zealand, although predominantly in the east from Wairoa south to Otago. It is however also found, if less commonly, from North Cape to Stewart Island.

The preferred habitat of the tauhinu is hill country pastures, especially unimproved pastures. Once present it will gradually become more dense in paddocks where good grazing pressure and pasture competition cannot be maintained.

MANUAL CONTROL

The stem of the tauhinu is notably pliable and springy, which has the effect of allowing it to “bounce back” after being crushed and flattened with machinery, so this option is less effective than it is with other brush weed species.

However, hand pulling of smaller plants is very effective, and is often successfully employed for more scattered tauhinu.

HERBICIDES TO KILL OR CONTROL TAUHINU

Tauhinu is not easy to kill with most herbicides, and in particular is quite resistant to GLYPHOSATE. However there are some herbicide options that are effective in controlling tauhinu. There can nevertheless be a lesser level of control in very large plants, and subsequent treatments will likely be required.

Spray Herbicides to Kill Tauhinu

• GrassMate – 60ml per 10 litres of water, applied anytime to whole plant by spot spraying, or 10L/hectare by boom spray. Add SuperWetter penetrant – 100ml/100L water.
• TRICLO Herbicide – 60ml per 10 litres of water, applied in the warmer months only when the target plants are actively growing. Apply to whole plant by spot spraying, or 10L/hectare by boom spray. Add SuperWetter penetrant at 100ml/100L water.
• MSF600 – 5g plus SuperWetter – 10ml per 10 litres of water for hand spraying, or MSF600 300g/hectare plus 1.5L SuperWetter in 300 litres of water by aerial boom spray.

Note: MSF600 is not pasture friendly. GrassMate is grass friendly but will damage clover. TRICLO Herbicide is grass but will knock back clover but it should recover.

Herbicide Gels to Kill Tauhinu

• Cut'n'Paste MetGel applied as a paste on the cut stems is a simple and effective control