ORIGIN

South Africa

COMMON NAME

Bridal creeper, Bridal veil creeper, Smilax

BOTANICAL NAME

Asparagus asparagoides

IDENTIFICATION

Summer-green scrambling or twining plant, roots tuberous. Stem to 3 m long, tortuous. Solitary cladodes (leaf-like stem projections) growing at each node along main stem distinguish this species.

HABITATS

Locally common. Bluffs, open rocklands and rubble slopes, lowland rocky communities, gumlands and pakihi, dry lowland shrublands, roadsides, hedges, wastelands, coastal shoreline communities and open pohutukawa forest, inshore and offshore islands. Thrives in impoverished soils and bare rock situations but also does well in volcanic soils. Likes good drainage.

IMPACT TO BIOTA AND ECOSYSTEMS

Forms a dense mat and smothers low growing plants and regenerating seedlings of canopy species. At risk are communities of stunted or low growing native plants and regenerating coastal canopy species such as pohutukawa and kowhai.

DISPERSAL ROUTES, VECTORS, INFESTATION SOURCES

Spread along coasts and roadsides by soil and water movement, also dispersed by birds and garden waste.

MANAGEMENT

Physical Control
Grubbing should only be used to control smaller scattered plants, because breaking the sward tends to encourage seeds to germinate.

Disposal

Chemical Control
Spray only when the plant is actively growing.

• Handgun 1.3 litres Glyphosate + 200 mls Penetrant/100 litres water.
• Knapsack 200 ml Glyphosate + 20 mls Penetrant/10 litres water.

Biological Control
Bridal Creeper rust, Puccinia myrsiphylli was first found in the Auckland area in 2005. It has since spread to many sites in the Bay of Plenty. It is thought that it was self-introduced from Australia.

Recommended Approach
Glyphosate and Penetrant as above

FURTHER COMMENT

For further information please refer to Environment Bay of Plenty's Fact Sheet PP17-Climbing plants

This plant is prohibited from propagation, sale and distribution within New Zealand!