4 large clumps growing on Ginninderra Creek under the pipe bridge for the new Belco Trunk Sewer. Each clump must have 100 growing stems in a tangle to 1 m long. Clumps are on the bank above water level though the lowest stems end in the water. Other stems are relatively erect. The location is where a new channel was dug in at the end of sewer construction and could have activated the vigorous growth. Cannot see other plants at a quick look up or downstream.
HarleyB at Biosec & Rural Services marked this place on 25 Mar on weeds-to-treat site (same date as his sighting of nearby patch of Symphiotrichum), along with many more alligator-weed occurrences along Ginn Ck in Melba. Looks to be a weed that requires treatment asap once it is reported if control is the objective. This population of plants will all have been invigorated, and maybe some stems detached and implanted lower in the catchment, by the water torrent for a few days after heavy rain on 06 April. Literature suggests that the species in Australia does not set viable seed but does propagate from plant fragments.