This is a weed that has an obvious strong selling point, as well as many flaws as a plant in Sydney. The positive is the large, purple flowers that look really stand out when present. The trouble is with the fact that this plant is a vine that can grow up and then smother (and kill) other plants, including trees. Ipomoea is Greek for woodworm, referring to the twinning habit and indica tells us the plant comes from India or China.

Species in the Ipomoea genus are herbs or shrubs that have long trailing stems with their funnel-shaped flowers. Their fruit is a globular to egg-shaped funnel. For the perennialIpomea indica:

• Leaves-oval in shape with pointed tips and heart-shaped bases, they often have three deep lobes, 4-17 cm long, 3-15cm wide, mid-green in colour
• Flowers-violet blue with paler purple bands mid-petal, often appear in clusters, 6-8 cm across, flower mainly spring to autumn.
• Distribution-it is a native to tropical areas, but within Australia it is in all states except the Northern Territory

As mentioned, this plant likes to climb up anything it can. It is a very vigorous grower and smothers other plants. It is a weed of wasteland, forest margins, roadsides and railway lines. I have also seen it in coastal areas.

This plants can be hard to remove once established. From experience, when it is climbing up trees, the best to deal with it is to cut each vine off somewhere above the ground and leave them in the tree, if they can’t be removed easily (they will die and fall out). All the plant material at ground level needs to be removed and all roots, where possible pulled out the ground too. As with any weeding job, consistency is the key-doing a bit every week until it is all gone is better than trying to get it all done in a day and then giving up before it’s all gone. Also, going back to check the area for any new plant growth is important as this will ensure the plant does not return in the future to cause the same problem.

Richardson, F. J., Richardson, R. G., & Shepard, R. C. H., Third Edition, 2016, Weeds of the South-east an Identification Guide for Australia, published by R. G. and F. J. Richardson, Meredith, Victoria, Australia. p

All photos are my own.