Environmental Weeds in Sydney North

• Noxious Weeds
• Other Significant Environmental Weeds
• Weed Alerts

Weed control

• Hand removal techniques
• Biocontrol

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Moth Vine

Botanical Name: Araujia hortorum
Noxious Weed Category:
CLASS 4 in Pittwater Council


Photos: Adam Burrowes

 
Special Note: The sap is acrid and causes severe discomfort if in contact with eyes or mucous membranes.

 

Description:
 Originating in Peru, Moth Vine is a climber with twining stems, containing milky white sap, up to 5m high. Invades hind-dunes, rainforest and bushland.

Elongated heart-shaped leaves, grey-green in pairs along the stem.

Creamy-white to pale pink to about 1cm diameter, flowering in clusters in spring and summer.

Large choko-like fruit, which splits to release masses of fly-away dandelion like feathery seeds.

Dispersal:
Air borne. The seed fibrous material is often used as nesting material by birds.

Impact on Bushland:
A vigorous climber of unrestricted height, it seeds prolifically and smothers other plants it is growing on. It germinates easily in undisturbed areas.

Control:

Manual: When hand weeding, be aware of the white sap which exudes from leaves and stems.
  Hand pull seedlings.
  Bag any fruit and remove from site.
  Larger plants develop a strong taproot. Cut and paint, or cut and use the stem scrape technique with neat Glyphosate-based product.
Chemical: Please contact your local control authority for advice on chemical control.

Similar Species:
The native climbers Marsdenia rostrata and Parsonsia straminea may be confused with Moth Vine, but both have greener foliage and clear instead of milky sap

Suggested Alternatives:

References: