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Moth Vine
Botanical name: Araujia sericifera
Noxious Weed Category: Class 4
Moth Vine Management Plan
Special note: The sap is acrid and causes severe discomfort if in contact with eyes or mucous membranes.
Photos: Adam Burrowes
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 Requirements
This plant must be continuously prevented from climbing and spreading within one metre of a property boundary or 20 metres of a water course. For more details see the Moth Vine Management Plan.
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.
See Manual Weed Control Techniques.
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