07 Dec Cape ivy
Delairea odorata
Also known as Senecio mikanioides Cape Ivy is naturalised in coastal parts of NSW and rapidly grows to blanket and smother surrounding vegetation.
Family: Asteraceae
Origin: South Africa
Habit: A climbing and trailing perennial, non-woody vine that smothers vegetation to heights of 10m. Stems break easily.
Leaves: Ivy or star shaped with 5-7 lobes, fleshy, glossy green above, silvery below, often with a purple tinge.
Flowers: Strongly scented on warm days, yellow and daisy-like in dense clusters lacking ray florets (petals). Autumn-Spring.
Fruit: Small, reddish-brown with a ‘parachute’ of fine hairs (pappus). A mature plant can produce up to 4000 seeds annually.
Roots: Shallow and fibrous, fragments re-root readily.
Dispersal: Vegetation and seed is spread by wind, water, animals, humans, contaminated soil (earthmoving equipment, car tyres etc) and garden refuse dumping.
Control: Hand Dig, Skirting, Foliar spray.
