Passiflora suberosa L.

Code

Growth form

Biological cycle

Habitat

Mayotte: Passiflora suberosa flowers and fruits all year round.
New Caledonia: Flowering of Passiflora suberosa primarily takes place from the end of the rainy season till the end of the cool season, the slightly shifted fruiting continues until December.

Passiflora suberosa is a perennial and highly invasive lianescent plant. It produces large quantities of seeds whose dispersal is mainly provided by the fruit-eating birds. The seed bank can reach more than 1000 seeds per square meter (dry forest in New Caledonia) 10 million per ha. It is capable of a strong vegetative regeneration after cutting from a deep taproot and creeping and climbing stems contribute to its dispersion.

In its natural habitats, Passiflora suberosa prefers moist forests and grows best in moist, well-drained sandy or calcareous soils; the thickness of the humus layer is not too great. Its preferred pH range is 5.1-8.5.

Comoros: Passiflora suberosa is present in the three islands at low and medium altitudes. It grows mainly in thickets, rocky stations (lava flows), on the roadside or in fallow.
Madagascar: ruderal species, uncommon, encountered in humid, warm climatic areas (East and West), on roadsides and in abandoned lots.
Mayotte: Passiflora suberosa is an exotic species naturalized and common in a wide range of degraded environments. It is found along roads and forest edges, on embankments, in ditches, in crops, pastures and agroforests and in windfalls in natural forests.
Mauritius and Reunion: Naturalized species that has become a common weed of sugarcane fields. It is also common in vacant lots, sometimes climbing in hedges, walls and rocky cliffs. It grows up to 1000 m altitude.
New Caledonia: It is found mostly at low and medium altitude and in areas receiving more than 1000 mm of rain per year. Very variable and very adaptable, it tolerates the sun as the partial shade, preferring a draining soil.
Seychelles: Common species.

Global harmfulness

Passiflora suberosa is considered invasive in the Pacific region.
 
Local harmfulness
 
Comoros: Passiflora suberosa is a weed very detrimental to vanilla, she clings to vanilla plants and other crops such as cassava and sugar cane.
Madagascar: A weed slightly troublesome in crops.
Mauritius: very harmful species in sugarcane crops when it is established. This weed is not a problem in vegetable cultivation.
Mayotte: Passiflora suberosa is a frequent weed, present in 22% of cultivated plots, especially in food crops and ylang plantations. It is also found in fruit crops. It is a perennial plant which develops more in the dry season. It is abundant in the south of the island, but it is also found in the center.
New Caledonia: It was introduced in 1909.  It invades waste places, secondary thickets, dry forests and pastures, either by crawling on the ground where it can form a thick mat smothering low vegetation, or by climbing shrubs it manages to cover and smother.
Reunion: Species generally still rare in cultures (Fr = 3%), but which is becoming increasingly common, especially in sugar cane and especially more and more abundant. It has been greatly favored in recent years by fruit-eating birds and especially by the expansion of Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus). The sprinkler irrigation is a contributory factor, as in times of cut, sprinklers heads serve as a rest for the birds. It is common to see, in infested plots, the presence of P. suberosa spot at the foot of each sprinkler. This species is particularly troublesome in some plots of Gol, where coverage can reach more than 50% of the surface. Its ability to climb the poles, to cover them quickly and to weave a network connecting rods between them, resulting in a significant harmfulness both yield loss that increases the hardness of the cutting work.
Seychelles: Common but scarce.
South Africa: Passiflora suberosa scrambles up and competes with native species.

Other: The crushed fruit of Passiflora suberosa provides a black ink.

Local control

Hawaii
Biological control: The pyralid moth, Pyrausta perelegans, a natural enemy of Passiflora mollissima, was approved for release in Hawaii in 1990, despite the small risk to the other 20 Passiflora species introduced to the islands. In trials, the caterpillars of Pyrausta perelegans fed on Passiflora suberosa foliage but were unable to survive to maturity. Pyrausta perelegans is currently established on several of the Hawaiian islands.

New Caledonia :
Mechanical control: On wet and soft ground, the manual eradication of lianas (repeated at least 2 times) results in control of P. suberosa. This technique is effective but time-consuming if the roots are torn during operation. Precaution should be taken since breaking  of the stem above the roots causes a regeneration of the plant from the pivot, as well as the simple mechanical cutting (manual or gyrobroyage).
Chemical control: The application of a herbicide treatment during vegetative period (rainy season) over a month after regrowth cutting (manual or gyrobroyage) gives good results with a triclopyr  herbicide. The triclopyr associations (2670 g / ha) and cloropyralid (480 g / ha) or triclopyr (1340 g / ha) and butoxyethyl ester (240 g / ha) will show even more effective. A second treatment is recommended in the dry season early for highly invaded areas where the seed bank will start germinating quickly if the soil is not covered quickly by grazing. Poorly maintained fences, hedges and woodland edges are dissemination corridors that need to watch . In dry forests, spraying must be done with the doses prescribed with a sprayer and a spear with a cone nozzle and a protective cover avoiding undesirable projections on neighboring plants.

Mauritius: See MSIRI Recommendation Sheet No 139 - Chemical Control of Vine Weeds (click here)
 

Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=passiflora%2520suberosa