Jasminum polyanthum
Family: Oleaceae
Type of weed: Vine or scrambler
Priority Weed Local Priority Weed. (See more weeds of the Local Priority Weed class.)
Flowering Months: September, October, November
Description
A vigorous fast-growing evergreen twining climber with tough wiry stems. Older stems are thick and tough.
White Jasmine has compound leaves with five to seven leaflets.
Clusters of highly scented white tubular flowers, (pink in bud) look star-like when open. It flowers in spring.
Alert: The flowers can cause allergies in some people.
Don’t confuse with…
Jasmine can be confused with native Wonga Wonga Vine (Pandorea pandorana) before the plant develops the distinctive lobed leaves and before it flowers.
Dispersal
The plant spreads by layering and suckering. Jasmine is a popular plant in gardens and has spread from plantings and in dumped garden waste.
Impact on bushland
Jasmine climbs rapidly into the tree canopy and covers vegetation at all levels, blocking light and restricting the growth and regeneration of native species. Its weight may bring down branches. It is a serious weed of rainforests and riparian areas.
Distribution
Lower Blue Mountains, Upper Blue Mountains. More abundant in the Lower Mountains.
Alternative planting
Native plants
- Twining Purple Pea (Hardenbergia violacea)
- Wonga Wonga Vine (Pandorea pandorana)
- Water Vine (Cissus antarctica)
- Old Man’s Beard (Clematis aristata)
Note: not Clematis cultivars; these can also be environmental weeds.
Council provides a tool, on its Mountain Landscapes website, to help you choose native alternative plantings. Choose your village, soil, vegetation community and the purpose of your planting, and the tool will give you suggestions.
There are native nurseries in several Blue Mountains villages, including Glenbrook, Lawson and Katoomba. Please also ask at your favourite local nursery.
Control
- Hand remove
- Spray
- Scrape and paint
Manual control
Hand remove
Take hold of one runner and gently pull it along the ground towards you. Check points of resistance where fibrous roots grow from the nodes. Cut roots with a knife or dig out with a trowel and continue to follow the runner. The major root systems need to be removed manually or scrape/cut and painted with herbicide. Bag any reproductive parts.
Chemical control
Note: Herbicides that may be used for this weed include Glyphosate.
Spraying
Please consult the Herbicide page of this website to help you decide whether to spray, how to do it safely and more.
Scrape and paint
With a knife, scrape up to a metre of the stem to reach the layer below the bark/outer layer. Immediately apply herbicide along the length of the scrape.
Considerations
- A maximum of half the stem diameter should be scraped. Do not ringbark.
- Larger stems (over 1 cm in diameter) should have two scrapes opposite each other.
- Vines can be left hanging in trees after treatment.
Specific control tips for this weed
Control measure: the spread of this plant should be controlled to prevent spread to priority assets. Weed notices will only be issued in special circumstances.
Stems travel long distances across the ground, frequently rooting down at leaf nodes (layering) to form new plants. Jasmine is therefore difficult to control and follow-up treatment is required.
Vines climbing up trees:
- Scrape each stem and paint with herbicide.
- If the vine has grown up into the canopy of a tree or shrub, cut each of the vine stems about 500 mm above the ground, after scraping and painting above and below the planned cut, to allow the parts in the tree canopy to die. It is important to keep the cut low to allow adequate length of the stems to be reached for re-treatment.
Vines growing as a groundcover:
- Hand pull, making sure all root and stem parts are removed. All material needs to be securely rafted to ensure it will not take root and regrow.
- Spray where the foliage is dense and low and there are no native plants nearby, but not near watercourses.
For key points on these techniques:
Local Priority Weed
Control measures:
- The plant should be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed.
- Plants under 4 metres in height should be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed.
- The spread of this plant should be adequately contained to prevent spread impacting on priority assets. Weed notices will only be issued for these weeds under special circumstances.
