Skunk vine is more noticeable when it is flowering. Photo by Chris Evans, University of Illinois, Bugwood.org.
Skunk vine (Paederia foetida) is an invasive vine that is spreading rapidly in Leon County. In a computer search of skunk vine, I found excellent Tallahassee Democrat articles written by UF/IFAS volunteer writers in the past, including Karen Rose in 2015 and Connie Bersok in 2017, as well as a thorough description with photos and solutions from UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. This article is a reminder that this aggressive, twining perennial vine continues to lurk in our yards, park woodlands, and natural areas. Seek and destroy! Here is how.
First, sharpen your observation skills. Look around your yard for a vine with oppositely arranged leaves on long stems, up to 30 feet long that twine up shrubs and trees or along the ground. When you crush the leaves, you will detect a bad smelling stench (hence the name). When young, these vines are easy to overlook, as their green leaves blend in with the vegetation of the unsuspecting shrub or tree that it climbs. The leaves are pointy but may vary in size and shape. Each leaf is on a short petiole. I have found it winding through our azaleas and trying to cover our coonties. It is easiest to control when it is in this stage.
Try to find and remove skunk vine before it has time to make flowers and seed, as in this photo. Photo by Chris Evans, University of Illinois, Bugwood.org.
Second, untwine the vine from reachable vegetation and follow it back to the ground where you may be able to dig out its roots. If in a tree, pull the vine from the tree or cut it and then follow the vine to where the root is.
Third, carefully dispose of plant remains by bagging and placing in the trash. Skunk vine can spread vegetatively from stems that remain on the soil or by seed, which is probably spread by birds. Do not compost any of the plant. Do not place debris in a brush pile.
Fourth, if you cannot trace the plant back to its roots, pile the vine that you have pulled from a tree and spray it with an herbicide like Round-up while still connected to its roots. The leaves will absorb the herbicide and carry it down to the roots. Follow label instructions. Be careful of nearby vegetation. Herbicide treatment is more effective during the growing season, late spring and summer.
Skunk vine is more noticeable when it is blooming. It sports small tubular, light grayish pink or lilac flowers with red centers. If you see it in bloom, act fast because those multiple flowers will soon be producing abundant fruit that is small, spherical, and shiny brown, each containing two black seeds. They hang in clusters. A single large vine produces thousands of seeds in a single growing season. Remember to bag and discard those clusters of small brown fruit.
The flowers of a single large skunk vine can produce thousands of seeds in a single growing season. Photo by Peggy Greb, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org.
Why is this important? Skunk vine, native to Asia, was brought to Florida in 1897 as a potential fiber crop and was soon reported to be a ‘troublesome weed’. It is now listed on the Florida Noxious Weed List by the Florida Department of Agriculture, which means it cannot be sold, grown, imported, or transported. Too late! In 1993 it was labeled a Category I invasive species, which means that it is altering native plant communities by displacing native species or changing community structures or ecological functions, resulting in documented ecological damage.
Skunk vine, if not controlled, will eventually engulf native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Its dense layer of leaves prevents sunlight from reaching the leaves of native plants. Our yards and natural areas begin to lose biodiversity as they are covered by skunk vine and other invasive vines such as Japanese climbing fern, English ivy, Asiatic jasmine, cat’s claw vine, Chinese wisteria, and others. With the loss of diversity of native vegetation, we lose the diversity of native insects which cannot digest plants that evolved in another part of the world. Less diversity in insects means less diversity in birds and other wildlife.
Protect the plants in your yard from skunk vine. Learn to recognize it while it is young for easy removal. Keep it from spreading into your neighbor’s yard and into our parks and natural areas. Seek and destroy!