Invasiveness Assessment - Dolichos pea (Dipogon lignosus) 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 Dolichos pea.
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: Dolichos pea
Scientific name: Dipogon lignosus
| Question | Comments | Rating | Confidence |
| Establishment | |||
| Germination requirements? | Germination is stimulated by fire and soil disturbance (Muyt 2001). Blood (2001) describes the species as having prolific recruitment. This may indicate the species is an opportunistic germinator. Gandhi (1957) states that the above ground biomass is killed off by frost and then the plant regrows in spring. This may indicate a seasonal component, however in a frost free climate there may not be any restrictions on germination. The germination requirements of this species are unknown. | M | L |
| Establishment requirements? | Grows best in full sun but seedlings can establish under shady conditions (Muyt 2001). | MH | MH |
| How much disturbance is required? | Reported to be “highly invasive in heathland” (Muyt 2001). | H | MH |
| Growth/Competitive | |||
| Life form? | Legume: A nitrogen fixing, climbing woody perennial of the Fabaceae family (Muyt 2001). | MH | MH |
| Allelopathic properties? | No allelopathic properties have been described for the species. | L | M |
| Tolerates herb pressure? | The species was suppressed by grazing of wallabies and possums on Rangitoto Island. The plants presence expanded from a few vines covering a few square metres to many hundred plants covering almost a hectare in five after an eradication program of the possums and wallabies reduced there population numbers by 90% (Wotherspoon & Wotherspoon 2002). As the possums and wallabies were also introduced species and at population levels that they were damaging the native vegetation, the grazing pressure applied to suppress the species was more than would be called moderate. | M | H |
| Normal growth rate? | Reported to have a very rapid growth rate and can cover 3-5 m in one season (Blood 2001). | H | MH |
| Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? | Tolerant of salt laden winds (Muyt 2001). Tolerant of fire; mature plants may be killed but germination is stimulated (Muyt 2001). Tolerant of drought (Blood 2001). Frost resistant (Bodkin 1990). Well drained soils are recommended for the plant (Bodkin 1990). | MH | MH |
| Reproduction | |||
| Reproductive system | Able to reproduce sexually, producing seed and vegetatively by suckering and the stems can layer (Blood 2001). Spread by seed and rhizomes (Hussey et al 1997). | H | MH |
| Number of propagules produced? | Reported to produce thousands of seeds annually (Muyt 2001). Thousands would indicate more than 2000 seeds are produced annually. | H | MH |
| Propagule longevity? | Seeds can remain in the soil for several years (Muyt 2001). A more accurate period of seed longevity is not reported. | M | L |
| Reproductive period? | Can live for more than 10 years and the plant is also reported to smother all ground flora (Muyt 2001). Smothering all ground flora would effectively mean the formation of a monoculture. | H | MH |
| Time to reproductive maturity? | Reported to take 2-3 years to reach sexual maturity (Muyt 2001). | ML | MH |
| Dispersal | |||
| Number of mechanisms? | Seeds are forcefully ejected several meters when ripe and dispersed by birds (Muyt 2001). Occasionally in trade the seeds are naturally dispersed by water and possibly by ants (Blood 2001). | H | MH |
| How far do they disperse? | Unknown specifically how far the seeds may be dispersed but being dispersed by birds and by water it is very likely that seeds will be dispersed more than 1 km. | H | M |
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