Ontario Weeds: Goldencreeper
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Goldencreeper, Thladiantha
dubia Bunge,
Other Names: thladianthe douteuse, Thladianthe
Family: Gourd or Melon Family (Cucurbitaceae)
General Description: Resembling young
plants of Wild
cucumber. It is a perennial reproducing almost exclusively from
fleshy, underground, potato-like tubers.
Photos and Pictures
Stems & Roots: Its stems are slender
and somewhat twining, 1-2m (40-80in.) long but mostly climbing over
other plants by means of tendrils; leaves alternate (1 per node),
short-stalked, broadly heart-shaped, about 7.5-15cm (3-6in.) long,
with a deep, rounded, U-shaped base, smooth margins, a slender,
stretched-out tip, and rough-hairy on both surfaces;
Flowers & Fruit: Flowers showy,
bright yellow, 15-25mm (3/5-1in.) across, somewhat resembling the
shape of the male (pollen-producing) flowers of the cultivated cucumber.
Canadian plants have only male (pollen-producing) flowers; the female
(seed-producing) plant apparently has not been introduced. Flowers
from July to September.
Habitat: Goldencreeper occurs in scattered
localities in southern Ontario, persisting in old gardens where
it was introduced as an ornamental, spreading through lawns, gardens,
along roadsides, in waste places and into cultivated fields.
Similar Species: It is distinguished by
its rough-hairy, heart-shaped leaves with deep, rounded, U-shaped
bases and stretched-out tips, climbing by tendrils, its bright yellow
flowers, and reproducing only by very persistent, widely spreading,
fleshy, underground, potato-like tubers which make it extremely
difficult to eradicate.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA
Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA
Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
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