Abstract In Queensland, Australia, K. pinnata was ranked 47 of 200 invasive naturalized plants (Batianoff and Butler, 2002). In New South Wales, Australia, it is a declared noxious weed under that state's Noxious Weed Act (1993) in the shire of Maclean. The species is listed as W2 requiring that the weed must be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed by land managers. K. pinnata is described as a moderate invader of the Pacific islands of Hawaii, French Polynesia and Palau (Meyer, 2000). In the Galapagos Islands, K. pinnata invades disturbed sites and native vegetation (Soria et al., 2002). K. pinnata is recognized as a threat to island ecosystems by the Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk project (PIER, 2004). It continues to be made available as a garden ornamental in many countries and is therefore likely to spread further.