Heart shaped

81. Indian lantern flower

Abutilon indicum

    

An erect, woody-based plant growing to about 1.5 m. and with a covering of soft hairs. Leaves alternate, heart-shaped, dull green above and grey-green beneath. The upper surface is wrinkled and the edges irregularly serrated. Flowers are yellow, single and on stalks arising from the leaf joints. Seeds are dark coloured and partially enclosed in the dried calyx of the flower, forming a cup-shaped seed head.

Specimen found in the Burdekin district, growing adjacent to a cane field. Similar in appearance to Flannel Weed (Sida cordifolia).

 
 

82. Lamb's tail

Anredera cordifolia

  

A fleshy-leaved twiner with abundant spikes of cream flowers and a tuberous root system. Leaves are alternate, heart-shaped at the base and pointed at the tip and up to 7 cm across. Flowers are pale cream, perfumed and about 5 mm across. They are clustered along a spike which is carried in the leaf joint and are about 12 cm long. Knobby structures about 2 to 3 cm, or more, across are also found in the leaf joints, these fall off and readily grow to form new plants.

Lamb's Tail is commonly found in NSW, usually in neglected places and twining up trees and shrubs on the margins of cane-fields. Lamb's Tail is an escapee from cultivation and is also known as Madeira Vine.

 

83. Horned cucumber

Cucumis metuliferus

  

A slender, hairy, annual vine with small pumpkin-like leaves and tendrils. Leaves are alternate, stalked, and 5 to 12 cm long and broad. They are hairy, with 3 to 5 lobes and the margins are toothed. Flowers are yellow with 5 lobes and are 3 to 4 cm across. Male flowers are found in clusters in the leaf forks and the female flowers are carried singly. Fruits are green at first and turn orange coloured when ripe. They are oblong about 12 cm long and 6 cm across and have short, stout spines. Seeds are flat and white.

Horned Cucumber is found in all districts. It is one of the more difficult vines to control and can be troublesome during harvesting when present in thick patches.
   

84. Wild yam

Dioscorea alata

    

A tuberous-rooted climber with winged or sharply four-angled stems. Leaves are opposite and heart-shaped with a deep basal sinus. They are rounded at the end, often with a fine pointed tip and are up to 24 cm long and 17 cm broad. Male flowers are in branched clusters up to 25 cm long. Female flowers are in spikes. Aerial tubers are produced along the stem at the leaf joints.

Wild Yam has become naturalised in northern Queensland and sometimes invades cane fields.

 
   

85. Wild yam

Dioscorea bulbifera

    

A twining plant producing stems to 4 m long and with under-ground tubers. Stems sometimes ridged (but not winged) and with numerous bulbils. Leaves heart-shaped with a pointed tip, large and hairless. Flowers are in branching spikes from the leaf joints with petals turning from white to purple-brown. Male and female flowers are on separate spikes. Seed pods are 2 to 3 cm long, hairless and contain 4 or 5 winged seeds.

Wild Yam has become naturalised in northern Queensland and is sometimes a weed of cane fields.

 
   

86. Kangkung

Ipomoea aquatica

    

An herbaceous perennial with thick, spongy, hollow stems which float in water and reach a length of 3 m. Leaves are variable but often elongated and heart-shaped. They are 3 to 15 cm long and 1 to 9 cm wide and hairless. Flowers are on stalks in the leaf joints. They are funnel-shaped and white, pink or pale lilac, some-times with a purple centre.

The name Kangkung (or variations of it) is used in Asia for this vine where the leaves and shoots are eaten as a vegetable. This specimen was found in a cane farm dam in the Burdekin district.

 
   

87. Bell vine

Ipomoea plebeia

    

A weak-stemmed, annual, twining plant. Leaves are alternate, pale green and covered with scattered hairs. They are 2.5 to 5 cm long, heart-shaped at the base with a short blunt point. Flowers are white, bell-shaped and about 1 cm long. Ripe seed capsules are globular, thin and papery and contain 4 brown seeds. Seeds are flat on two sides and rounded on the back.

Bell Vine is common in all cane growing districts. It is a vigorous and hardy grower which can pull down a cane crop and cause difficulties during harvesting.

 

  
   

88. Prickly malvastrum

Malvastrum coromandelianum

    

A small, bushy, woody-based perennial, usually growing to about 30 cm. Stems branch from the base and have closely pressed pale hairs. Leaves are alternate, dull and dark green above, are unevenly serrated and sometimes with 3 to 5 shallow lobes. They are up to 5 cm long and 3 cm broad, rounded at the base with short stalks. Flowers are yellow, tightly clustered in the leaf forks and about 1.5 cm across. Pods are about 8 mm across and consist of about 7 to 10 rounded segments joined in a circle. Each segment has two small points projecting from the back and contains one seed.

Prickly Malvastrum is widespread but rarely found in the cane-growing areas. It has been recorded as a weed of cane fields.

 
   

89. Giant bramble

Rubus alceifolius

    

A coarse, vigorous, scrambling perennial. It has long, thick, arching canes which are covered with a felt of pale brown hairs, have hooked thorns and root where they touch the ground. Leaves are alternate and large, about 12 cm across, round and have a deep notch at the base. They also have about seven shallow, finely-serrated lobes, are green above and velvety beneath with dense brown hairs. The flowers are white and found in clusters near the ends of short, secondary branches. Flower clusters are surrounded by brown, finely divided bracts. Fruits are succulent and red.

Giant Bramble is widespread in northern Queensland, usually on the margins of rainforest areas where it encroaches onto roads, headlands and into cane fields.

 
   

90. Wild raspberry - Moluccan

Rubus moluccanus

    

A robust perennial with woody roots and many stout, long canes which scramble over other plants and form dense thickets. Stems have stout, curved thorns. Leaves are about 5 to 8 cm across, dark green above, pale and velvety beneath. They are rounded in outline with shallow, triangular lobes. Flowers are pink and in clusters near the ends of short branches. Berries are dull red, rather small and not very palatable.

Wild Raspberry - Moluccan is found in the higher rainfall coastal areas. It is a weed of roadsides and rainforest mar-gins, occasionally encroaching into cane fields. In north Queensland it occupies similar situations to the more dominant Giant Bramble (Rubus alceifolius).

 
   

91. Flannel weed

Sida cordifolia

    

A branched, upright perennial that grows to 1.5 m. It is densely felted with soft hairs giving the leaves and stems a flannel-like texture. Leaves are yellowish-green in colour, alternate, 3 to 5 cm long and on stout stalks. They are blunt at the tip and heart-shaped at the base. Flowers are in dense clusters at the ends of the branches or in the forks of the upper leaves. Petals are yellow. Pods have 20 fine bristles at the top which break up into segments, each with 2 fine bristles.

Flannel Weed is widespread and common. It is -a weed of waste and cultivated ground and of roadsides, invading cane fields where crop growth is poor.

 
   

92. Stagger weed

Stachys arvensis

    

A small annual plant with slender, erect, 4-angled stems. It grows to 45 cm high, has a strong mint-like smell and is covered with fine hairs. Leaves are opposite, pale yellowish-green and 1 to 3 cm long. They are heart-shaped at the base and have small rounded teeth at the edges. Flowers have pink petals and are in clusters in the forks of the topmost leaves forming a loose spike. Fruits are made up of 4 small, brown nutlets.

Stagger Weed is a common weed of cultivation in the southern districts. It is also found on headlands, roadsides and on waste ground.

 
   

93. Black-eyed susan

Thunbergia alata

    

A softly-haired creeper. Leaves are opposite, yellow-green and softly-hairy on narrowly-winged stalks about 3 cm long. Leaves are roughly triangular in shape with a heart-shaped base and are usually pointed at the tip with a few shallow teeth. They are about 5 cm long and 4 cm broad. The flowers are about 3 cm across and are on stalks in the leaf forks. They are partially enclosed by two oval-shaped bracts, trumpet-shaped with five lobes and are pale orange with a dark throat.

Black-eyed Susan is an escapee from gardens and is widespread throughout the southern districts. It grows on fence lines and supporting plants on the margins of cane fields and occasionally in the crop.