Ivy or Scarlet Gourd Project

Ivy, or scarlet, gourd
(Coccinia grandis):

This noxious cucurbit vine was first found in Hawaii on Oahu in 1968. By 1986, it had been discovered in the western part of Hawaii Island. Distribution of C. grandis includes India, China, tropical Africa, Malaysia, and Central America. A rank grower, the vine produces an abundance of leaves, white, star-shaped flowers, and elongated fruits, quickly smothering ground, shrubs, and trees in a solid blanket. Roots and stems are succulent, probably enabling the plants to survive prolonged periods of dry weather. Fruits are 7-8 cm long, and become a scarlet red when ripe. Birds, especially the red-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer), are avid feeders on the fruits, and have been implicated in spread of the vine. In India, a sweet variety of C. grandis is cultivated as a food crop; the plant is also said to have medicinal properties.

A 1992 exploratory trip to Africa resulted in introduction into Hawaii of five potential control agents: a shoot-boring sesiid moth; three weevils (Curculionidae), one a gall former along lateral and terminal growing vine tips, one a leaf miner, and the third a stem borer causing the death of shoots; and a pentatomid bug. These insects are now undergoing host range testing under quarantine.