Click on images to enlarge
infestation (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of reddish-coloured hairy stems (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
the deeply-lobed leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of leaves showing several lobes with deeply-toothed margins (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
flowers (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of immature fruit with enlarged fleshy sepals (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
mature fruit with persistent sepals (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
comparison of the leaves of coastal morning glory (Ipomoea cairica), on the left, and white convolvulus creeper (Merremia dissecta), on the right (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
Scientific Name
Merremia dissecta (Jacq.) Hallier f.
Synonyms
Convolvulus dissectus Jacq.Ipomoea sinuata Ortega
Family
Convolvulaceae
Common Names
Alamo vine, bindweed, cut-leaf morning glory, mile-a-minute, noon flower, Noyau vine, snakevine, white convolvulus creeper
Origin
Native to Mexico, Central America (i.e. Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama), the Caribbean and tropical South America (i.e. French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela and Colombia). Possibly also native to south-eastern USA (i.e. Texas and Florida).
Naturalised Distribution
Widely naturalised in northern Australia. Common in northern and central Queensland and the northern parts of the Northern Territory. Occasionally also naturalised in the northern parts of Western Australia, in the southern parts of the Northern Territory, in south-eastern and Queensland and in south-eastern South Australia.
Notes
White convolvulus creeper (Merremia dissecta) is regarded as an environmental weed in northern Western Australia, the Northern Territory and northern Queensland. This vine has escaped from gardens and taken over roadsides, disturbed sites, riparian areas and coastal vine thickets in northern Australia. It can cover native plants, including trees and shrubs, as well as fence lines.
In Western Australia, white convolvulus creeper (Merremia dissecta) is scattered near settlements throughout the Kimberley region. It is a common weed near Broome and is also rampant in coastal vine thickets at Cape Leveque on the Dampier Peninsula, where it is reported to engulf large trees and shrubs. In the Northern Territory it is classed as a medium priority weed species in aboriginal lands in the Northern Land Council area. It is also on the environmental weed list for the Coomalie sub-region and has been recorded in Holmes Jungle Nature Park.
White convolvulus creeper (Merremia dissecta) also appears on environmental weed lists in northern Queensland (e.g. in Thuringowa City and Townsville City). In fact, it is listed as a prevalent and troublesome environmental weed in rehabilitation projects in the Thuringowa City area, and can form virtual monocultures that exclude almost all other plants in these sites.
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