Patterson's curse

Etymology
Said to be named after the Patterson family who had it as an ornamental garden plant which spread and took over adjacent previously productive paddocks (though this was not the first large outbreak).

Noun

 * 1)  The plant, considered a noxious weed in Australia.
 * 2) * 1905 J. H. Maiden, Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, xvi.268, Quoted in 1985, G. A. Wilkes, A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, second edition,, ISBN 0-424-00113-6,
 * That ‘Paterson’s Curse’ produces some feed is undoubted, but it is a smothering, rough, coarse plant ... the vernacular name ‘Curse’ shows what many people think of it.
 * 1) * 1991, Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management, Landscope: The Journal of the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management, Volumes 7-9, |Paterson%22+-inauthor:%22%22&dq=%22Patterson%27s+Curse%22+-intitle:%22Patterson|Paterson%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nrTUT6zDJIeYiAf_-YSFAw&redir_esc=y page 42,
 * A plant with tough seeds such as Patterson’s curse or caltrop  can easily be spread in this way, as can plants that reproduce vegetatively.
 * 1) * 1995, John Marsden, A Killing Frost, 1998 US edition (originally published 1995, in Australia, as The Third Day, The Frost), |Paterson%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mbDUT4nBB4ipiAeT7dGPAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Patterson%27s%20Curse%22%20-intitle%3A%22Patterson|Paterson%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false unnumbered page,
 * They came swarming across the land, like locusts, like mice, like Patterson’s Curse.
 * They came swarming across the land, like locusts, like mice, like Patterson’s Curse.