Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Muehlenbeckia complexa

Other names

Wire Plant, Maidenhair Vine, Necklace Vine and

Wire Vine

Family

Polygonaceae

Flowering season

July to September

English distribution

It is found mainly in the far Southwest and around London.

It is very thinly scattered elsewhere.

For a map see the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland –

Wireplant

Habitat

It is a neophyte from New Zealand which has been grown

in the UK since the 1840s and first noted in the wild in

the Isles of Scilly in the early 1900s.

It has escaped from gardens in the South and has

become naturalised on waste ground, hedgerows,

walls, quarries and cliffs.

It is on the increase

Description

Wireplant is a sprawling or weakly climbing

semi-deciduous shrub growing up to 4.5m.

Male and female flowers are on separate

plants (dioecious).

They are small and greenish with 5 tepals.

Male flowers have 8 white stamens.

Female flowers have 3 white feathery stigmas

and a broad green style.

The tepals on female flowers become waxy,

white and succulent during fruiting.

The fruit is a hard black triangular achene.

Leaves are small, up to 8mm and round with

smooth margins.

Branches are a reddish brown color and grow

like a tangled vine.