Cape Ivy

BUSH INVADER

Delairea odorata

family: ASTERACEAE

Description

Vigorous perennial vine from South Africa with succulent twining stems, which has escaped from gardens into moist forest. Grows rapidly, and is probably toxic.
Leaves are fleshy and hairless, and lobed rather like English Ivy.
Flowers are small, densely bunched, yellow, tubular, daisy-like, occurring from autumn to spring.
Produces many tiny seeds, each equipped with a small hairy parachute, like dandelion.

Dispersal

Seeds sail on wind or water, well into good bushland. Often dumped on bushland edges, where it will regrow from stem fragments.

Impact on Bushland

Invades sensitive and fragile bushland, suppressing the growth and germination of native species by carpeting the ground and rooting down at leaf nodes. Also grows into the forest canopy, kills trees and creates light gaps, leading to more weed invasion.

Distribution

Lower Blue Mountains.

Alternative Planting

Native Plants
Yellow Passion-flower (Passiflora herbertiana)
Climbing Guinea Flower (Hibbertia scandens)
Morinda (Morinda jasminoides)
Sweet Sarsaparilla (Smilax glyciphylla)
Wombat Barry (Eustrephus latifolius).

Exotic alternatives
Madagascar Jasmine (Stephanotis floribunda)
Carolina Jessamine
(Gelsemium sempervirens)

Control

Hand remove, eg, by raking, removing all stems.
Cut climbing stems. Use herbicide on cut stumps, scrape, or spray.
Dig out or treat as for Woody Weeds.
Repeat treatment as necessary.

Leaves of Cape Ivy are fleshy and hairless, and lobed rather like English Ivy.

Cape Ivy flowers are small, densely bunched and daisy-like.

Together with Morning Glory, Cape Ivy is carpeting the ground and growing into the canopy in this Blue Gum forest.

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