Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Clematis vitalba L.

Synonyms

Clematis vitalba L. var. vitalba

Family

Ranunculaceae

Common Names

boys-bacca, clematis, evergreen clematis, graybeard, hedge feathers, mile-a-minute, old man's beard, Tom-bacca, traveler's joy, whiffy cane

Origin

Native to northern Africa (i.e. northern Algeria), Europe (i.e. France, Portugal, Spain, UK, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, southern Russia, Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Romania and Yugoslavia) and western Asia (i.e. Afghanistan, Cyprus, northern Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia).

Naturalised Distribution

Naturalised in many parts of south-eastern Australia (i.e. southern Victoria, south-eastern South Australia and Tasmania).

Also naturalised overseas in New Zealand, Canada and western USA (i.e. Washington, Oregon and California).

Notes

Old man's beard (Clematis vitalba) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria and Tasmania, and as a potential environmental weed or "sleeper weed" in other parts of southern Australia. It generally grows along waterways (i.e. in riparian areas), in forest margins, urban areas and remnant bushlands, and is seen as a threat to the coastal vegetation and grassy woodlands of temperate Australia.

In New Zealand it initially colonises forest edges or gaps, where there is plenty of light, and gradually moves towards the centre of forests. Old man's beard (Clematis vitalba) often dominates the canopy layer and restricts light penetration to lower levels, thereby suppressing all vegetation beneath it. Eventually the most heavily infested trees fall over under the plant's weight, and in this way it can destroy native vegetation. When this loss of the canopy occurs there is an increased risk for an influx of other exotic weeds into the gaps that are created. For this reason old man's beard (Clematis vitalba) is a major management problem in national parks and reserves in New Zealand, and it has been listed in the "top ten weeds of importance" in this country. It is also listed in the Global Invasive Species Database.