The maidenhair vine, or Muehlenbeckia complexa, is deciduous climber or ground cover, depending on whether it has something to climb up. As it grows, the maidenhair vine forms a dense mass of intertwined, wiry stems. Lord Howe Island (off the coast of Australia) and New Zealand are the native range of this species. The meanings of the binomial name, Muehlenbeckia complexa, is as follows:
- Muehlenbeckia-named in honour if the French botanist Heinrich Gustav Muehlenbeck (1798-1845).
- Complexa-the Latin word for connected or intertwined, referring to the growth habit of the species.
In height, the maidenhair vine can reach up to three metres tall, but this is often not of note, as it trails along the ground just as well. The plant is dioecious, which is where you get separate male and female plants. The flowers appear in small spikes, either from the leaf axils or at the ends of stems. The flowers are green in colour. With female plants, the perianth (non-reproductive parts of the flower like the petals) remains once fertilised, growing into an enlarged white fruit that contains a black nutlet.
The leaves are quite variable in shape, but are generally oblong to roughly circular. They are up to two centimetres long and dark green in colour. Maidenhair vine is semi-deciduous.
The maidenhair vine is happy in a range of habitats including montaine, lowland and coastal environments. Within those environments, it helps the land recover from disturbances, whether natural or man-made. It’s also great for weed-suppression due to its dense growth habit. It’s also great for insect diversity-it’s a host plant for several species of endemic copper butterflies, as well as other species for which it is a food plant.
If you are wanting to grow the maidenhair vine indoor garden, it prefers moist, well-drained soil. Full sun is the best light level, but it will still grow well enough in a little shade. It also needs shelter from cold winds. If you want to use it as a climber, a support will be required.
While doing some reading about this vine, there is no mention of growing the plant from seed. It is only sold as an actual plant. While it is easier to propagate the plant using cuttings as there are seperate male and female plants, I do find it disappointing that that there aren’t seeds readily available. Thats just me, a horticulturist that likes to try my hand at growing plants from seeds, or by cuttings myself, rather than buying a plant where that work has already been done. If you want to propagate the maidenhair vine by cuttings, take semi-hardwood cuttings in summer and apply bottom heat to the containers you place them in.
Would I have this plant in my garden? Probably not, mainly because it isn’t a personal favourite. It is a nice enough plant, but not one that jumps out as fabulous.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/11221/muehlenbeckia-complexa/details
https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Muehlenbeckia~complexa
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2916885