Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Senecioneae
Genus: Delairea
Species: D. odorata
Binomial name: Delairea odorata
Synonym: Senecio mikanioides)
Common Name: German Ivy, Water Ivy, Parlor Ivy
Delairea odorata (German Ivy) originally from South Africa is a scrambling or climbing vine three to five metres tall with soft hairless ivy-like leaves and yellow daisy flowers.
Can be confused with Cape ivy which has ray florets and is also a coastal species.
To distinguish German ivy note the small ear-shaped appendages at the base of most leaf stalks. It produces yellow daisy flowers that lack the outer ring of ray florets.
It is a daisy – not an ivy. Its habit is in coastal plant communities and lowland forest margins, shrublands, rocklands, roadsides, quarries, farm hedges, wasteland, house gardens.
Delairea odorata has become an invasive species in New Zealand. The plant will cover shrubs and trees, inhibiting growth by smothering and out shading. It can extend up to sub-canopy levels. It will also cover ground intensively over a wide area, thereby preventing seeds from germinating or growing. The plant is spread mostly by the wind or carried by disturbances in the environment. Plants grow well in open environments but will still germinate in the shade of the forest canopy near to its margin.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
