M. umbellata is a vigorous perennial vine with climbing or trailing stems up to 3 m or more in length, glabrous or softly hairy. Young stems have a milky sap;older stems may be woody. Leaves are alternate, long-petiolate, narrowly to broadly ovate with cordate base, occasionally lobed, about 10 cm long (but sometimes up to 15 cm long). Flowers occur in axillary clusters of a few to many flowers, on peduncle 1-5 cm long. Calyx 5-8 mm long, rounded;corolla 2-4 cm long, always bright yellow in subsp. umbellata, but van Ooststroom and Hoogland (1953) note that those of subsp. orientalis vary from yellow/orange in western Malaysia to white in Indonesia. Capsule ovoid to conical 10-15 mm long, splitting into four. Seeds 5 mm long, brown, densely hairy.
Related invasive species
- Merremia umbellata
Related Farm Practice
- Forest plantations
- Plantations
- Pastures
M. umbellata is a climbing weed widely distributed in tropical regions throughout the world. It is one of the commonest and most widespread species of Merremia. Due to its attractive yellow flowers, it has been introduced as an ornamental in several countries where has become naturalized. It is typically found in disturbed areas and as a weed in agricultural crops and plantations, but little is known about its environmental impact. The PIER website (PIER, 2016) lists it as invasive in Hawaii, Fiji, Micronesia, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and the Galápagos Islands, although regional floras and reports (see references in the distribution table) do not explicitly indicate so. It is also considered invasive in Cuba (Oviedo Prieto et al., 2012) and American Samoa (Speith and Harrison, 2012).
M. umbellata is noted to occur in forest plantations, perennial crops, pastures, root crops and vegetables (García et al., 1975). It seems to be a common weed in rice (Moody, 1989;Fuentes et al., 2006) and in mahogany plantations from Southeast Asia (Nazif, 1992;Krisnawati et al., 2011). In Mexico, it has been reported as a weed in sugarcane, maize, sponge gourd (Luffa aegyptiaca), tomato, mango and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) (Villaseñor Ríos and Espinosa García, 1998).