Madeira vine

Invasive plants and animalsMadeira vineAnredera cordifoliaDECLARED CLASS 3The problemMadeira vine blankets and smothers trees andshrubs and can lead to their death. It is very heavyon the tree canopy and will collapse smaller trees.Madeira vine is a garden escapee and is native toSouth America.DescriptionMadeira vine is also known as potato vine or lambstail vine. It is a vigorous climber which can producethousands of aerial tubers along its stem. It has lightgreen, wide heart shaped, fleshy 4−5 cm leaves. Itproduces dense blankets of creamy flower spikesfrom December to April. The flower spikes are10 cm long and each spike is made up of numerousindividual small flowers and resemble a lambs tail.At its worst, Madeira vine produces thousands ofsmall light brown or green potato-like tubers whichfall to the ground and sprout.Management strategiesPre-planting of desirable species to ensure thatother weeds do not gain a foothold in the disturbedarea, should be adopted as part of the revegetationof cleared areas. Mulching will assist in reducing thegermination of weed species.Research results have shown that the followingmethods can be quite effective:PP86 September 2007 Produced by: Land Protection (Invasive Plants and Animals)Queensland the Smart State