Moth vine
Araujia sericifera
family
Apocynaceae
origin
Exotic
declaration
NIL
For information only
Common names
Moth vine, Bladder flower, Calico vine, Cruel plant, False choko, Kapok vine, Milk vine, Moth catcher, Moth plant, Peruvian creeper.
A robust and long-lived climbing plant with twining, finely hairy, stems containing milky sap. Its paired leaves are more or less elongated triangular in shape (3-12 cm long and 1-6 cm wide), with dark green upper surfaces and whitish densely hairy undersides. Its white, cream or pale pink flowers are bell-shaped and have five petal lobes. These flowers are borne in few to several-flowered clusters in the upper leaf forks. Its large, egg-shaped fruit (6-12 cm long and 3-7 cm wide) resemble 'chokos', but have a pale bluish-green or greyish-green appearance. These fruit split lengthwise to release numerous blackish-coloured seeds (4-8 mm long) that are topped with a tuft of long white silky hairs (20-30 mm long).
Impact
Impact
Moth vine (Araujia sericifera) is regarded as a significant environmental weed in New South Wales and Queensland, and a minor environmental weed in Victoria and South Australia. It was recently listed as a priority environmental weed in three Natural Resource Management regions. This species climbs up any supporting vegetation and its dense growth eventually smothers smaller trees and shrubs. It can bring down these plants with the weight of its tangled growth and may even impede larger trees in the overstorey. Moth vine (Araujia sericifera) also spreads over the ground, smothering groundcover plants and preventing the regeneration of overstorey species. Hence, it may act as transformer species, altering the nature of the vegetation where it invades.In south-eastern Queensland, where it is ranked among the top 30 most invasive plant species, moth vine (Araujia sericifera) is often found in rainforest remnants, vine scrubs, wet sclerophyll forests and in riparian vegetation. It also inhabits the same vegetation types in eastern New South Wales and appears on many local and regional environmental weed lists in this state (e.g. the Bushland Friendly Nursery Scheme environmental weeds list for north-eastern New South Wales, the Australian Association of Bush Regenerators (AABR) environmental weed list for the wider Sydney and Blue Mountains region, the Warringah Council environmental weeds register, the noxious and environmental weed list for the Hunter and Central Coast region, and on environmental weed lists for the Southern Highlands and South Coast regions).The "invasion and establishment of exotic vines and scramblers" has been listed as a "key threatening process" in New South Wales, and moth vine (Araujia sericifera) is one of the species specifically mentioned as contributing to this process. Such species are thought to be adversely affecting threatened species, populations or ecological communities in New South Wales. For example, moth vine (Araujia sericifera) is listed as a principal weed species affecting sub-tropical coastal floodplain forests in the North Coast bioregion and Illawarra sub-tropical rainforests in the Sydney Basin bioregion, ecological communities which are both listed as endangered in this state. Moth vine (Araujia sericifera) has a relatively limited distribution in other parts of Australia. However, it has invaded riparian vegetation and damp sclerophyll forest in Victoria.
Location
Location
Characteristics
Characteristics
Similar Species
Similar Species
Moth vine (Araujia sericifera) is regarded as a significant environmental weed in New South Wales and Queensland, and a minor environmental weed in Victoria and South Australia. It was recently listed as a priority environmental weed in three Natural Resource Management regions. This species climbs up any supporting vegetation and its dense growth eventually smothers smaller trees and shrubs. It can bring down these plants with the weight of its tangled growth and may even impede larger trees in the overstorey. Moth vine (Araujia sericifera) also spreads over the ground, smothering groundcover plants and preventing the regeneration of overstorey species. Hence, it may act as transformer species, altering the nature of the vegetation where it invades.In south-eastern Queensland, where it is ranked among the top 30 most invasive plant species, moth vine (Araujia sericifera) is often found in rainforest remnants, vine scrubs, wet sclerophyll forests and in riparian vegetation. It also inhabits the same vegetation types in eastern New South Wales and appears on many local and regional environmental weed lists in this state (e.g. the Bushland Friendly Nursery Scheme environmental weeds list for north-eastern New South Wales, the Australian Association of Bush Regenerators (AABR) environmental weed list for the wider Sydney and Blue Mountains region, the Warringah Council environmental weeds register, the noxious and environmental weed list for the Hunter and Central Coast region, and on environmental weed lists for the Southern Highlands and South Coast regions).The "invasion and establishment of exotic vines and scramblers" has been listed as a "key threatening process" in New South Wales, and moth vine (Araujia sericifera) is one of the species specifically mentioned as contributing to this process. Such species are thought to be adversely affecting threatened species, populations or ecological communities in New South Wales. For example, moth vine (Araujia sericifera) is listed as a principal weed species affecting sub-tropical coastal floodplain forests in the North Coast bioregion and Illawarra sub-tropical rainforests in the Sydney Basin bioregion, ecological communities which are both listed as endangered in this state. Moth vine (Araujia sericifera) has a relatively limited distribution in other parts of Australia. However, it has invaded riparian vegetation and damp sclerophyll forest in Victoria.
