Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Weeds: Goldencreeper

Table of Contents

1. Name
2. Other Names
3. Family
4. General Description
   • Photos and Pictures
5. Stems and Roots
6. Flowers and Fruit
7. Habitat
8. Similar Species
9. 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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