Family: Polygonaceae (docks)

Status:

Description:
A large non-woody vine with arrowhead shaped leaves, and small white flowers carried in long branched heads. Seed capsules are red, drying to brown, with a papery texture The plant grows from a conical underground tuber like a sweet potato.

Preferred habitat and impacts:
Widespread in a variety of habitats, but mostly near-coastal, often along rivers.
Climbs over shrubs and small trees, smothering and breaking them down.

Dispersal:
Spread from seed or tubers, in dumped garden waste, or contaminated soil. Seed is spread by wind or water, and tubers potentially by water as well, such as along river banks in floods.

Look-alikes:
Quite distinctive in the dense sprays of papery fruits. There are some smaller native climbers with arrowhead shaped leaves. Forest bindweed (Calystegia marginata ) has single white flowers (to 1.5cm) with the base enclosed in two green flaps (bracts). It is found in moist forest, particularly after disturbance such as fire or collapse of a tree. The small creeper Muehlenbeckia gracillima has similar leaves with finely toothed and wavy margins, but the flower spikes are much smaller. It usually occurs along rivers.

Control:
Constant re-sprouting from the tuber makes this species difficult to control. Lengthy follow-up is needed. Plants can be dug up, but every tuber will need to be removed and burnt or deeply buried. Spraying with selective broadleaf herbicides prior to seeding will be effective, but will need to be repeated on regrowth the next season.
When removing any species of vine be careful about pulling them down, as this can damage the supporting plant. Generally they are better left to die off and break up in place, unless this would involve leaving a lot of seed in the canopy. Try to control vines before seed has formed to avoid this problem but if fruits are present (even if they are still green), they should be collected and destroyed by burning or deep burial.