Cruel Vine

I didn't expect to see this in the orange trees adjoining Raakajlim! It's a weed called Moth Plant or Cruel Vine (Araujia sericifera).

Each of these pods contains about 300 seeds that float about in the wind on little bits of white fluff. We first noticed fluff everywhere and thought it was a huge, native Bush Banana (Marsdenia australis) releasing seed. Sadly not. Why is it called Cruel Vine? Because the flowers have little hooks inside them that trap butterflies and moths by their proboscis (tongue), holding them until they die... seriously. But also in the bag of tricks: smothers and kills other plants, has white, latex sap that's a skin irritant and is toxic to animals.

So I cut and painted the stems with herbicide, collected all the pods and double bagged them for disposal. I suspect I'll be revisiting the neighbour's orange trees for a few years yet before I'm rid of this one ...

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Springtails

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Some winter birds