- Lifespan
- Perennial, typically 20–30+ years in established plants
- Size & Weight
- Climbing vine reaching 10–20 m in length; individual flowers 2–3 cm diameter
- Habitat
- Hedgerows, woodland edges, scrubland, and disturbed ground, typically on calcareous or neutral soils in warm, sunny to partly shaded locations.
- UK Distribution
- Native to southern England and Wales; naturalised across much of England and Wales, becoming increasingly common northwards into the Midlands and southern Scotland; absent from far north.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic plant; obtains nutrients from soil and sunlight
- Predators
- Not subject to predation as adult plant; seeds and seedlings may be eaten by small mammals and birds
- Mating Season
- Flowers July to September; seed maturation September to November
- Breeding
- Produces numerous small achenes (single-seeded fruits) with distinctive feathery plumes (awns) for wind dispersal; no fixed clutch size
- Behaviour
- A vigorous, deciduous climber that uses leaf-stalk twining to ascend through hedgerows and over shrubs. Produces masses of scented, creamy-white flowers attractive to insects, particularly bees and butterflies. Spreads readily by wind-dispersed seeds, capable of colonising new areas quickly.