Old man's beard

What does it look like?

Old man’s beard is a deciduous climbing vine that grows up to 20 metres tall. It has woody stems with six prominent ribs and pale bark that rubs off easily. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs along the stems, and each is made up of five leaflets. These are sparsely hairy and have bluntly toothed or smooth edges. Fragrant, creamy-white flowers are produced from December to May. Flowers are followed by dense, fluffy clusters of seeds, which persist over winter.

Old man's beard is a light-demanding species. It grows in low forest, scrub, shrubland, riparian margins and in forests with well-lit margins, wide tracks, waterways or clearings. Native species have only three leaflets, no lines or grooves on the stems, and produce flowers from August to December. The native Clematis paniculata has pure white flowers, and Clematis foetida flowers are yellow.

Why is it a problem?

Old man’s beard is a fast-growing vine that eventually smothers and collapses even tall trees and can reduce a forest to an impenetrable, low-growing infestation of the vine. It moves into established forest over the canopy by layering.

Old man's beard produces huge amounts of long-lived seed, which initially have a high viability rate. It also reproduces vegetatively from stem fragments that form roots and resprout, and vines that touch the ground can also take root.

Control methods

Herbicide control

• Slash thick stems (all year round) at one metre and ground level (to prevent stump resprouting and aerial roots attaching from hanging stems). Paint cut stumps with glyphosate (250ml/L water) or metsulfuron-methyl 600g/kg (5g/L water) or a product containing 100g picloram+300g triclopyr/L (50ml/L water) or triclopyr 600 EC (100ml/L water) or picloram gel. Leave stems in air to die. Dispose of cutaway segments at a refuse transfer station or by burning. Or,
• Spray (spring-autumn): glyphosate (20ml/L water) or triclopyr 600 EC (6ml/L water).
• Stumps resprout very quickly and cut stems root at nodes. Replant bared areas promptly to minimise seedling regrowth. Check for seedlings at least 6-monthly.

More information

Old man’s beard is widespread south of State Highway 5 in Hawke’s Bay. Council do not believe that the benefits of control in this area would outweigh the costs imposed on land occupiers in requiring them to control old man’s beard. However, Council do see the value in working in a partnership with the Department of Conservation in preventing old man’s beard from establishing in the Kaweka and Ruahine Ranges. A 500m buffer zone has been created along the edge of the Kaweka and Ruahine Ranges of which the good neighbour rule (Plan Rule 6) will apply. Council will pay for initial control of the plant within this buffer area, upon forming an agreed work programme with the Department of Conservation.

North of State Highway 5 in Hawke’s Bay, old man’s beard is not so widespread. Significant investment in controlling the plant has been undertaken in this area and Council believes that it is still worthwhile to require land occupiers to maintain to zero density within this area (Figure 9 below). There are a large number of native bush fragments throughout this landscape that would be negatively impacted by Old man’s beard if left unmanaged.

The old man’s beard Progressive Containment area boundary is defined by State Highway 5 from the region’s western boundary to its junction with State Highway 2, then along State Highway 2 from its junction with State Highway 5 to the Esk River, then down the Esk River from the State Highway 2 bridge to the sea.

Related links

MPI listing: Old Man's Beard 

Weedbusters listing: Old Man's Beard 

Hawke's Bay Regional Pest Management Plan & pdf 

NZPCN listing

NZ flora listing