FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Attractive, aggressive herbaceous vine which climbs clockwise and upward. Stems 4-sided.
Synonym(s): Mikania angulosa, Mikania batatifolia, Willoughbya heterophylla
Description: Deciduous, climbing, herbaceous vine, often blanketing nearby vegetation.
Leaves: Opposite, heart-shaped or triangular leaves with long petioles. Leaves 3 to 13 cm long with 3 main distinctive veins.
Flowers/Fruit: White flowers in loose heads originating in axils of leaves. Fruits are brown nutlets in clusters, with whitish barbed bristles. Flowering and fruiting July to October.
Habit and Range: Sunny perimeters of lakes, swamps, wet woodlands, freshwater marshes, stream banks in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont.
