Avoid using prunings to make garden compost, as live and dead plant matter contains defensive allelopathic compounds that inhibit growth and germination of other plants. Regarded as invasive in tropics due to fast growth and difficulty of eradication. Listed amongst top 100 of world's worst alien species by IUCN. Escaped from cultivation and has become naturalized in many parts of the world, forming dense infestations in disturbed sites. All plant parts contain ivalin, toxic to mammals when ingested and known to result in aborted fetuses in farm animals
