Morning glory - coastal (Ipomoea cairica)

Also known as: mile-a-minute

Coastal morning glory is a is vigorous climber with violet or purple flowers and lobed leaves. It smothers trees and other plants, restricting their growth.

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How does this weed affect you?

Coastal morning glory is vigorous perennial climber that is capable of very rapid growth. It was widely cultivated as a garden ornamental and is now common in coastal areas particularly on river banks and tolerates a wide variety of soils types.

Coastal morning glory spreads quickly either forming a dense mat along the ground or climbing on any vertical support into the canopy sometimes up to 4.5 m. Infestations can smother native vegetation, reducing biodiversity and displacing native animals due to habitat destruction.

What does it look like?

Coastal morning glory is a perennial vine with twining stems. It can generate very long, running underground stems that will also creep along the ground in the absence of any supporting vegetation. It has deeply divided leaves with 5-7 lobes, up to 9 cm long and wide. The flowers are tubular, violet to purple and up to 6 cm long.

Where is it found?

Coastal morning glory is widespread along the coast of NSW in the North Coast, Hunter, Greater Sydney and South East regions. Isolated plants have also been found in Tamworth in the North West and the Sturt National Park in the Western region.

It is a native plant in tropical parts of Asia and Africa.

References

Weeds in Australia - http://www.environment.gov.au

Personal communication (March 2016), Cat Smykowsky, Bush regenerator, Coastal Northern NSW.

PlantNET (The NSW Plant Information Network System). Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney. Retrieved 1 February 2021 from:https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Ipomoea~cairica

More information

Control

Physical

Hand pulling

Small plants and seedlings can be hand pulled. Some larger plants may be pulled out in soft sandy soils.

Cutting

Climbing stems can be cut and left above ground to dry out and die. Rooted stems will need to be pulled out or treated with herbicide.

Herbicide

Spraying

Spot spray plants if the foliage is not covering desirable plants.

Stem scrape

Cut the stem less than 1 m from where it is rooted. Use a sharp knife to scrape a very thin layer of bark from a 15–30 cm section of the stem. Apply the herbicide to the exposed soft underlying green tissue within 15 seconds of making the scrape. If there are any stems touching the ground, collect them and either take them off-site for disposal, or leave them to dry out on site, without contacting the soil.

Cut stem

Cut the stem and apply herbicide gel within 15 seconds of cutting. If there are any stems touching the ground, collect them and either take them off-site for disposal, or leave them on site to dry out without contacting the soil.

Herbicide options

WARNING - ALWAYS READ THE LABEL
Users of agricultural or veterinary chemical products must always read the label and any permit, before using the product, and strictly comply with the directions on the label and the conditions of any permit. Users are not absolved from compliance with the directions on the label or the conditions of the permit by reason of any statement made or not made in this information. To view permits or product labels go to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website www.apvma.gov.au

See Using herbicides for more information.

PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2025
Glyphosate 360 g/L (Various products)
Rate: 200 mL per 10 L of water
Comments: Spot-spray for seedling control.
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: M, Inhibitors of EPSP synthase
Resistance risk: Moderate

PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2025
Glyphosate 360 g/L (Various products)
Rate: 1 part glyphosate per 1.5 parts water
Comments: Stem scraping application.
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: M, Inhibitors of EPSP synthase
Resistance risk: Moderate

PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2025
Glyphosate 360 g/L with Metsulfuron-methyl 600 g/kg (Various products)
Rate: 200 mL glyphosate plus 1.5g of metsulfuron-methyl in 10 L water
Comments: Spot spray application
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: M, Inhibitors of EPSP synthase
Resistance risk: Moderate

Dichlorprop 600 g/L (Lantana 600®)
Rate: 1 L in 200 L of water
Comments: Completely wet all leaves and stem of target plants
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: I, Disruptors of plant cell growth (synthetic auxins)
Resistance risk: Moderate

Picloram 44.7 g/L + Aminopyralid 4.47 g/L (Vigilant II ®)
Rate: Undiluted
Comments: Cut stem application. Apply a 3–5 mm layer of gel for stems less than 20 mm. Apply 5 mm layer on stems above 20 mm .
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: I, Disruptors of plant cell growth (synthetic auxins)
Resistance risk: Moderate

Biosecurity duty

The content provided here is for information purposes only and is taken from the Biosecurity Act 2015 and its subordinate legislation, and the Regional Strategic Weed Management Plans (published by each Local Land Services region in NSW). It describes the state and regional priorities for weeds in New South Wales, Australia.

Area	Duty
All of NSW	General Biosecurity Duty All pest plants are regulated with a general biosecurity duty to prevent, eliminate or minimise any biosecurity risk they may pose. Any person who deals with any plant, who knows (or ought to know) of any biosecurity risk, has a duty to ensure the risk is prevented, eliminated or minimised, so far as is reasonably practicable.

For technical advice and assistance with identification please contact your local council weeds officer.

Reviewed 2021