Mikania micrantha

MP-0024 / 0024 — Asteraceae

Mikania micrantha Kunth
Tsuru-hiyodori (JP)

A fast twining vine from tropical America that smothers forest — listed among the world’s worst invasive species.

Distribution

Native to Central and South America and the Caribbean; invasive across tropical Asia, the Pacific and, in Japan, Okinawa.

Habitat

Forest margins, disturbed ground, plantations and the crowns of trees that it overgrows.

Morphology

A fast-growing, herbaceous twining vine with stems several metres long. Leaves are opposite, triangular-ovate with a cordate base, 3–10 cm long. The small whitish flower heads, each of four florets, are borne in dense clusters; the achenes are dispersed by wind.

Botanical notes

Listed among the 100 worst invasive alien species of the world (IUCN). By smothering trees and crops with a dense blanket of leaves, it can seriously damage natural forest and agricultural land. It is included in the archive as an object of study, not for cultivation.

References

Taxonomy and distribution follow Plants of the World Online (Kew), YList (Yonekura & Kajita) and regional floras; CITES Species+ for trade status. Descriptions are provisional and are revised as specimens are verified.