Invasiveness Assessment - Wandering creeper (Tradescantia fluminensis) in Victoria
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Plant invasiveness is determined by evaluating a plant’s biological and ecological characteristics against criteria that encompass establishment requirements, growth rate and competitive ability, methods of reproduction, and dispersal mechanisms.
| Each characteristic, or criterion, is assessed against a list of intensity ratings. Depending upon information found, a rating of Low, Medium Low, Medium High or High is assigned to that criterion. Where no data is available to answer a criterion, a rating of medium (M) is applied. A description of the invasiveness criteria and intensity ratings used in this process can be viewed here. |
The following table provides information on the invasiveness of Wandering creeper.
A more detailed description of the methodology of the Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method can be viewed below:
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (PDF - 630 KB)
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (DOC - 1 MB)
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Common Name: Wandering creeper
Scientific name: Tradescantia fluminensis
| Question | Comments | Rating | Confidence |
| Establishment | |||
| Germination requirements? | T. fluminensis does not set seed in Australia (Muyt 2001). Stem fragments root readily at stem nodes (Blood 2001). Reproduction in Australia is wholly vegetative (GISD 2006) | H | MH |
| Establishment requirements? | Will establish in open, sunny locations although not as prolific as in shaded positions unless moisture levels are high (Muyt 2001). Thrives in damp, humid and shaded places. T. fluminensis requires disturbance for establishment including increased light and increased soil nitrogen (GISD 2006). | MH | MH |
| How much disturbance is required? | Establishes in minor disturbed natural ecosystems: It occurs in riparian environments, sclerophyll forests and woodland (dry and wet), warm and temperate rainforest, wetlands and other disturbed areas including roadsides (GISD 2006). | MH | MH |
| Growth/Competitive | |||
| Life form? | Stoloniferous, weak-stemmed perennial creeper (Muyt 2001). Perennial herb (Weber 2003). | ML | MH |
| Allelopathic properties? | No allelopathic properties described. | L | L |
| Tolerates herb pressure? | Cattle and chickens are known to ingest T. fluminensis (Standish 2001). Even if consumed vegetative reproduction and rapid growth (Blood 2001) ensures the plant’s survival and spread. | MH | MH |
| Normal growth rate? | The species grows vigorously and spreads rapidly (Weber 2003). T. fluminensis growth is rapid; stems are able to spread several meters in one year under favorable conditions (Blood 2001). | MH | MH |
| Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? | T. fluminensis is shade tolerant but frost intolerant (GISD 2006). “Not easily burnt due to fleshy nature” (McDougall 1994). Commonly occurs on silty alluvial soils, it tolerates occasional flooding and water logging, sun and drought (Blood 2001) (ESC 2007). “Can grow in deep shade to full sun” (WCC 2001). | MH | MH |
| Reproduction | |||
| Reproductive system | Reproduces solely by stolons in Australia, stems take root at each node when in contact with moist soil (Muyt 2001). Tradescantia species are usually self-sterile so that individual plants and clones derived from them produce no seed” (Griffiths 1992). | MH | MH |
| Number of propagules produced? | “Papery capsule that does not produce viable seed in Australia” (WCC 2001). | L | MH |
| Propagule longevity? | Reproduces vegetatively (Cochrane 2001), high biomass swards can persist indefinitely (GISD 2006). | L | MH |
| Reproductive period? | “A persistent aggressive scrambling creeper that can form dense mats, impeding the growth and regeneration of native shrubs and trees smother” (Weber 2003), forms dense monocultures (DiTomaso and Healy 2003). | H | MH |
| Time to reproductive maturity? | “Short lived herbs… root at the nodes whenever they come into contact with the soil,” (Griffiths 1992). Vegetative propagules become separate individuals in less than 1 year. | H | MH |
| Dispersal | |||
| Number of mechanisms? | Vegetative parts of the plant are readily detached and transported as contaminants in soil, on mechanical equipment and animals. T. fluminensis can disperse via cattle hooves and probably chicken feet (Standish 2001). Also dispersed by naturally via waterways or down slopes associated with soil movement. Dispersed commonly by dumping of garden refuse. Vectors that facilitate spread in order of importance, humans, streams, cattle and road machinery (Standish 2001). | MH | MH |
| How far do they disperse? | If the infestation is in the head of a gully, the whole gully and downstream creek system can become infested as stem segments are washed downstream (Cochrane 2001), potentially dispersing fragments greater than one kilometre. | MH | MH |
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