Kei apple (Dovyalis caffra)

Kei apple is a shrub or small tree with a dense crown and apricot coloured fruit. It can form dense spiny thickets and outcompete native plants.

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How does this weed affect you?

Kei apple:

• outcompetes native plants
• often has long sharp thorns, which can injure people and animals
• can form dense thickets that limit movement of people and animals
• provides harbor for pest animals such as foxes and rabbits
• can increase fire intensity when it invades grasslands.

What does it look like?

Kei apple is a dense shrub or small tree with a branched crown that usually grows up to 6 m tall. Plants are either male or female. Young branches have sharp spines up to 6 cm long.

Leaves are:

• dark green
• 2-5 cm long and 1-3 cm wide
• waxy
• obviously veined on both leaf surfaces
• alternate along young stems.

Flowers:

• are creamish green
• male flowers are 3 mm long and in clusters of 5-10
• female flowers are either solitary or in groups of up to 3
• are present in late spring and early summer.

Fruit are:

• fleshy and contain 5-15 small seeds
• yellow to orangey- yellow when ripe
• velvety (peach-like) when ripe
• up to 4 cm in diameter
• sweet smelling

Branches are:

• smooth and spiny when young.
• sometimes drooping
• cracked and flaky or with corky bark when older.

Where is it found?

In NSW, most naturalised plants have been found in the Greater Sydney region. A few Kei apple plants have also been found in the North Coast, Hunter and South East regions.

It is native to southern Africa.

What type of environment does it grow in?

Kei apple grows best in subtropical climates in a wide variety of well-drained soil types including saline soils. Plants do not grow well in waterlogged soils. Kei apple tolerates frost, drought and salt spray. It has been found growing in bushland and around old houses.

Maps and records

• Recorded presence of Kei apple during property inspections (Map: Biosecurity Information System - Weeds, 2017-2024)
  These records are made by authorised officers during property inspections under the Biosecurity Act 2015. Officers record the presence of priority weeds in their council area and provide this to the NSW Department of Primary Industries. Records reflect the presence of the weed on the date of inspection.
  
  

How does it spread?

Kei apple starts producing fruit with seed when the plants are three years old. [1] Each tree can produce thousands of seeds. Birds eat the fruit and spread the seeds in their droppings.

References

CABI (2016). Datasheet: Dovyalis caffra (Kei apple). Retrieved 14 November 2014 from: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/cabicompendium.19648

Omotayo, A. O., Ncama, K., & Aremu, A. O. (2019). Exploring the diverse potential of underutilized Kei-apple [Dovyalis caffra (Hook. f. & Harv.) Sim]: a multi-purpose fruit tree. Human Ecology, 47, 613-618.

PlantNET (The NSW Plant Information Network System). Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney. Retrieved 13 November from: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Dovyalis~caffra

More information

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Control

When controlling Kei apple, wear gloves, sturdy clothes and shoes and other personal protective equipment to avoid injuries from the spines.

Physical removal

Small plants can be hand pulled or dug out.

Chemical control

Spot spraying

Spray actively growing plants. Apply herbicide to all of the foliage to the point of visible wetness.

Basal barking

Spray or paint the bark around the stem from ground level to 30 cm high all the way around the plants. Wet thoroughly to the point of runoff.

Cut stump

Large and small plants can be controlled by the cut stump method. Dispose of the cut plant after treating the stump, especially if fruit are present. Cut stems less than 15 cm above the ground. Apply herbicide to the cut and the sides of the stump within 15 seconds.

Stem injection

Drill holes or make cuts into the sapwood all the way around the trunk. Fill each hole or cut with herbicide within 15 seconds. Once treated, leave the tree in place to die.

Herbicide options

See Using herbicides for more information.

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PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2025
Fluroxypyr 200 g/L (Various products)
Rate: 35 mL per L diesel/kerosene
Comments: Basal bark
Withholding period: Do not graze failed crops and treated pastures or cut for stock feed for 7 days after application. See label for further information.
Herbicide group: 4 (previously group I), Disruptors of plant cell growth (Auxin mimics)
Resistance risk: Moderate

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PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2025
Fluroxypyr 333 g/L (Starane™ Advanced)
Rate: 21 mL per L diesel/kerosene
Comments: Basal bark
Withholding period: Do not graze failed crops and treated pastures or cut for stock food for 7 days after application. See label for more information.
Herbicide group: 4 (previously group I), Disruptors of plant cell growth (Auxin mimics)
Resistance risk: Moderate

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PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2025
Glyphosate 360 g/L (Various products)
Rate: One part product to 1.5 parts water
Comments: Cut stump, drill, frill axe or injection
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: 9 (previously group M), Inhibition of 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate-3 phosphate synthase (EPSP inhibition)
Resistance risk: Moderate

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PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2025
Glyphosate 360 g/L with Metsulfuron-methyl 600 g/kg (Various products)
Rate: 1:1.5 glyphosate to water + 1 g metsulfuron to 1 L water
Comments: Stem injection
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: 9 (previously group M), Inhibition of 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate-3 phosphate synthase (EPSP inhibition)
Resistance risk: Moderate

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Biosecurity duty

The content provided here is for information purposes only and is taken from the Biosecurity Act 2015 and its subordinate legislation, and the Regional Strategic Weed Management Plans (published by each Local Land Services region in NSW). It describes the state and regional priorities for weeds in New South Wales, Australia.

Area	Duty
All of NSW	General Biosecurity Duty All pest plants are regulated with a general biosecurity duty to prevent, eliminate or minimise any biosecurity risk they may pose. Any person who deals with any plant, who knows (or ought to know) of any biosecurity risk, has a duty to ensure the risk is prevented, eliminated or minimised, so far as is reasonably practicable.
Greater Sydney	Regional Recommended Measure* (for Regional Priority - Eradication) Land managers should mitigate the risk of the plant being introduced to their land. Land managers should eradicate the plant from the land and keep the land free of the plant. A person should not deal with the plant, where dealings include but are not limited to buying, selling, growing, moving, carrying or releasing the plant. Notify local control authority if found.
North Coast	Regional Recommended Measure* (for Regional Priority - Prevention) Land managers should mitigate the risk of the plant being introduced to their land. Land managers should eradicate the plant from the land and keep the land free of the plant. A person should not deal with the plant, where dealings include but are not limited to buying, selling, growing, moving, carrying or releasing the plant. Notify local control authority if found.
South East	Regional Recommended Measure* (for Regional Priority - Eradication) Land managers should mitigate the risk of the plant being introduced to their land. Land managers should eradicate the plant from the land and keep the land free of the plant. A person should not deal with the plant, where dealings include but are not limited to buying, selling, growing, moving, carrying or releasing the plant. Notify local control authority if found.
	*To see the Regional Strategic Weeds Management Plans containing demonstrated outcomes that fulfil the general biosecurity duty for this weed click here

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Reviewed 2024