Australia planted rubber vine in the 1860s; it now covers vast Queensland areas

Rubber vine began its Australian story as a garden ornamental brought from Madagascar, and it has since become one of the country's most troublesome weeds. Left unchecked, this glossy, trumpet-flowered climber can scramble up to 30 metres into tree canopies, blanket creek lines, smother the native vegetation beneath it, and form dense thickets. It also poisons people and livestock, makes mustering cattle difficult, and reduces food and shelter for native animals. Whether you farm, manage land, garden, or simply care about the bush, knowing how rubber vine spreads, how to recognise it, and what the law requires of you matters.How rubber vine arrived in Australia, from a Madagascan garden to an invasive weedRubber vine is native to southwestern Madagascar, and the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, through its WeedWise service, notes that it now grows across East Africa, Southeast Asia, the United States, and Central and Southern America. In Australia, its story starts in the 1860s, when it was planted in the gardens of northern Queensland mining towns. By 1917, people were already reporting infestations. During the Second World War, it was gro...