Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Slender Grape

A plant that I thought was a weed called Balloon vine in fact has turned
out to be a native vine - Slender Grape or   Cayratia clematidea:

















We have it growing in many places here and we have been fairly active in pulling it out.

The difference between the two is fairly obvious once it is pointed out:
The Slender Grape has 5 leaflets (not 9 as does the Balloon Vine) and the petioles of the two lower pairs are distinctly forked at an angle of about 45 degrees, while the terminal, largest leaflet has an unbranched petiole.

According to this website :
http://www.butterflyplantsforpoverty.org/factsheets.htm
it is the host plant for a most magnificent moth  - the Joseph's Coat Moth:




 (image from Google images)


Needless to say we won't be pulling it out anymore without good reason and I look forward to seeing that moth around



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