Skunkvine is a vine from Asia named for the sulfur smell its leaves give off when crushed. In the US it has become an invasive weed in parts of the South and in Hawaii, twining over trees and shrubs and smothering native plants. It bears small lilac-pink tubular flowers followed by shiny brown berries.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A twining vine that climbs over other plants and forms dense tangles that can shade them out.
- Leaves
- Opposite (rarely three at a node), oval to lance-shaped, 0.8–4.3 in (2–11 cm) long, often heart-shaped at the base, with smooth edges. Crushed leaves and stems smell foul.
- Flowers
- Small, hairy, tubular flowers, grayish pink to lilac with five spreading lobes, in curving leafy clusters.
- Flowering time
- Mostly late summer and fall in Florida.
- Fruit
- Shiny brown, nearly round berries up to about 1/4 in (7 mm) wide. Each holds two black seeds.
Look-alikes
sewer vinePaederia cruddasiana
Sewer vine has oval, flattened fruits with clearly winged seeds; skunkvine's fruits are round and its seeds have no wings.
Why they get mixed upIt's a close relative that is also a foul-smelling invasive vine in Florida.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Forest edges
- Disturbed ground
- Swamps
- Yards and landscapes
- Range
- Native to eastern and southern Asia. In the US it grows wild in natural areas in more than 25 counties across north, central, and south Florida, and it has also been reported in Georgia, the Carolinas, Louisiana, Texas, and Hawaii.
- Preferred conditions
- It invades both disturbed land and intact native habitats such as sandhills, rockland hammocks, and swamps.
Life cycle
- Seed dispersal
- It spreads by seeds and by bits of stem that root where they land.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Status
- Florida lists it as a Category I invasive plant, meaning it is invading and disrupting native plant communities, and since 1999 it has been on the state's list, so it's illegal to possess, move, or release it in Florida. It has smothered one of the last populations of the federally endangered Cooley's water-willow.
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- It was brought to Florida before 1897 and was already called a troublesome weed there by 1916.
- In Hawaii it's known as pilau maile.
More species to explore
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