Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

Southern Europe

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Uncommon

About

This climbing vine grows in European meadows and chokes out native plants in North America. Its seed pods release wind-borne plumes that can travel over five miles to sprout new colonies.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Gentianales

Family

Apocynaceae

Genus

Vincetoxicum

Species

Vincetoxicum nigrum