Cat's claw creeper
Dolichandra unguis-cati
family
Bignoniaceae
origin
Exotic
declaration
Category 3 Restricted Matter (Biosecurity Act 2014)
Must not be distributed or disposed. This means it must not be released into the environment unless the distribution or disposal is authorised in a regulation or under a permit.
Common names
Cat's claw creeper, Cat's claw, Cat's claw climber, Catclawvine, Funnel creeper.
A rampant climber with stems that eventually become very robust and woody in nature. Its oppositely arranged leaves consist of two leaflets and a distinctive three-clawed tendril. Its very showy yellow flowers are tubular (4-8 cm long) with five petal lobes. Its mature fruit are dark brown and strap-like in appearance (15-50 cm long and 8-12 mm wide). These fruit contain numerous papery, winged seeds
Impact
Impact
Cat's claw creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati) is particularly aggressive in riparian vegetation in south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, but is also a potential threat to riparian and rainforest plant communities throughout the sub-tropical and tropical zones of eastern and northern Australia. It was recently ranked as the fourth most invasive alien plant species in south-eastern Queensland, and is currently regarded as a priority environmental weed in five Natural Resource Management regions.Cat's claw creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati) has the ability to completely smother native vegetation, even growing up over tall trees, and many bushland areas in eastern Australia have serious infestations of this species. It can grow as a ground cover along the forest floor of scrub remnants and can form a thick carpet of stems and leaves which chokes out small existing plants and prevents the germination of all other species. The large climbing stems can also reach to the top of the rainforest canopy where, through a combination of weight and shading, they can cause the eventual death of the largest canopy trees. The vigorous and extensive root system, which produces large tubers at about 50 cm intervals, also adds to the invasiveness of this weed.
Location
Location
Characteristics
Characteristics
Similar Species
Similar Species
Cat's claw creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati) is particularly aggressive in riparian vegetation in south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, but is also a potential threat to riparian and rainforest plant communities throughout the sub-tropical and tropical zones of eastern and northern Australia. It was recently ranked as the fourth most invasive alien plant species in south-eastern Queensland, and is currently regarded as a priority environmental weed in five Natural Resource Management regions.Cat's claw creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati) has the ability to completely smother native vegetation, even growing up over tall trees, and many bushland areas in eastern Australia have serious infestations of this species. It can grow as a ground cover along the forest floor of scrub remnants and can form a thick carpet of stems and leaves which chokes out small existing plants and prevents the germination of all other species. The large climbing stems can also reach to the top of the rainforest canopy where, through a combination of weight and shading, they can cause the eventual death of the largest canopy trees. The vigorous and extensive root system, which produces large tubers at about 50 cm intervals, also adds to the invasiveness of this weed.
