What does it look like?
Batwing passion flower is an invasive, shade-tolerant vine. It has distinctive batwing shaped leaves that may have a pale green stripe along the midrib, or it can be plain dark green. It often has a sheen to it (particularly with maturing juveniles and adult plants). Younger plants are more matte.
Batwing has small yellow or light-green coloured flowers (7-12mm diameter) without petals. It produces small berries (7-15mm in diameter), which start out green and mature to black.
As batwing is shade-tolerant, it can grow in a range of locations. It has been found in regenerating native forest and scrub, home gardens and among hedges and fence lines.
Why is it a problem?
Batwing can grow high into the canopy of tall trees. It has the ability to smother, shade and strangle the vegetation it grows on.
Batwing also produces large numbers of fruit, with each fruit containing around 20 seeds; even unripe fruit can produce viable seeds. Many hundreds of seedlings have been found under some plants. It can also grow from stems that touch the ground or from plant fragments.
Control methods
Physical control
Pull roots up (all year round): Cut off above ground or tie stems in air to prevent them forming roots on contact with soil.
Herbicide control
Cut trunk and paint stump (all year round): cut trunk near to the ground, and swab freshly cut stump with metsulfuron-methyl 600g/kg (1g/L) or a product containing 100g picloram+300g triclopyr/L (100ml/L) or triclopyr 600g/L (100ml/L) or a product containing 200g 2,4-D+100g dicamba/L (200ml/L).
CAUTION: When using any herbicide or pesticide, PLEASE READ THE LABEL THOROUGHLY to ensure that all instructions and safety requirements are followed.
Related links
Management Programme
National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA)
The NPPA is designed to prevent the sale, distribution and propagation of a set list of pest plants (the Accord list) within New Zealand. If allowed to spread further, these pest plants could seriously damage the New Zealand economy and environment.
More informationUnwanted Organism
An unwanted organism is any organism that's capable of causing harm to natural or physical resources (like forests and waterways) or human health. A number of introduced pests in New Zealand are classed as unwanted.
Taxonomies
FamilyPassifloraceae
TypePlants
GroupClimber
HabitatLand
Management ProgrammeNational Pest Plant Accord (NPPA)Unwanted Organism
