| Ecology and Life History | |
| Description | Woody, perennial vine, which roots readily at the nodes when in contact with the substrate (Puff 1991b). Each individual typically has both climbing and prostrate stems. Prostrate stems are often hidden under leaf litter and are therefore difficult to detect. Populations of this plant appear to be concentrated and therefore mappable. It is, however, difficult to distinguish individuals because of its clonal growth form. <br><br> Woody, perennial vine in the Dicotyledonae, Rubiaceae, Paederieae. Paederia foetida L. (s.str.) is the type species of the subgenus Paederia sensu Puff (1991a). Plants now classified as P. foetida L. (s.str.) have historically been placed in genera in the families Apocynaceae (Apocynum), Gentianaceae (Gentiana) and Convolvulaceae (Convolvulus) (Puff, 1991b). This is an extremely variable species. Field identification: Vine with opposite leaves which emits a disagreeable odor, especially when crushed.
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| Diagnostic Characteristics | Considerable confusion has existed as to the identity of P. foetida (cf. Puff 1991b). In the most basic sense, the name P. foetida has been applied to two different species now placed within two different subgenera of Paederia (Puff 1991a, 1991b). In its original sense, P. foetida L. refers to plants with (sub)globose fruits and unwinged diaspores ("seeds") in the subgenus Paederia (Puff 1991b). The second species, P. cruddasiana Prain, in the subgenus Alatopaederia Puff, has laterally compressed-ovoid (-ellipsoid) fruits and distinctly winged diaspores. Herbarium material of P. cruddasiana is often labeled as P. foetida (Puff 1991b), and examples of this have been found at both the University of Florida and Fairchild Tropical Garden herbaria. P. foetida is widely distributed in SE Asia while P. cruddasiana occurs from N India (N of 15 degrees N latitude), Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan eastwards to SW China N of 20 degrees N latitude, and (P. cruddasiana subsp. microcarpa) southwards to Thailand. Both P. foetida and P. cruddasiana ssp. cruddasiana have been introduced to and are naturalized in Florida. All other Paederia in the United States is apparently P. foetida (sensu Puff 1991b). <br><br>Prior to the review of the Puff (1991b) monograph, it was thought that all plants of Paederia in Florida were P. foetida. We have now determined that the naturalized plants of Paederia in Dade County are P. cruddasiana (determination of The Montgomery Foundation plants by George Gann-Matzen, verified by Richard A. Howard [The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, personal communication to Julia Morton, Morton Collectanea], and of the Matheson Hammock plants by Roger Hammer [Natural Areas Supervisor, Metro-Dade County Department of Parks and Recreation, personal communication]). Apparently this is the only introduced and naturalized population of P. cruddasiana in the United States. Following Puff (1991b), no plants of P. foetida are now known from Dade County, Florida. <br><br>It should also be noted that Puff (1991b) has included many specific and infraspecific taxa in P. foetida. Some work should be done to determine which of these taxa (if recognized) is/are represented in the United States, as this may provide additional information on the expected habitats, ecology and phenology of the taxon or taxa present. Both the Hawaiian plants (Wagner et al. 1990) and some Florida plants (University of Florida Herbarium)have been refered to as P. scandens, one of the many taxa included in P. foetida by Puff (1991b). Likewise, it may prove fruitful to determine the original genotypes of the introduced plant materials.
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| Ecology | Little is known about the precise ecological requirements of P. foetida, although it appears to be primarily a ruderal ("weedy") species. From the distribution figures and discussion presented in Puff (1991b), it would appear that P. foetida can tolerate a wide range of climatic, hydrologic and soil conditions. <br><br>Growth: P. foetida appears to be a relatively fast-growing vine, but no work has been done to measure its growth rate. It generally produces both climbing and prostrate stems. Climbing stems scale and cover trees and shrubs, and may eventually cause mortality of the "host". Prostrate stems radiate out from the main base, root at the nodes, and eventually scale trees and shrubs. In Florida, P. foetida has been known to create and dominate tree-fall gaps. <br><br>Reproduction: Methods of pollination of P. foetida are unknown, although ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) have been observed visiting the flowers of P. cruddasiana in Dade County, Florida (Scott Zona, Palm Biologist, Fairchild Tropical Garden, personal communication). Hillebrand (1888, in Puff 1991b) argued that P. foetida was first introduced by humans onto the island of Oahu in Hawaii around 1854, and was then spread to other Hawaiian island by birds. Puff (1991b) does not confirm or deny this argument. Methods of seed dispersal in Florida are unknown, but bird dispersal of fruit seems likely. <br><br>Predation and diseases: No significant predators or diseases affecting P. foetida are known. Evidence of cattle grazing on P. foetida has been observed in the Pineolas Grotto area (Citrus County, Florida), but the effects of this grazing on P. foetida growth and reproduction are unknown (George Gann-Matzen, Ecohorizons, Inc., personal observation). <br><br>Phenology: P. foetida flowers and fruits from all year round in tropical and subtropical areas; in extratropical areas it flowers primarily from early summer to early autumn (c. May, June - September, October) and fruits from c. July to December (Puff 1991b). <br><br>In Florida, plants appear to follow the extratropical pattern of flowering and fruiting described above. In addition, some discoloration of leaves (toward yellow or red) may occur following cold weather. Leaf-drop may occur following temperatures below 30 degrees Fahrenheit (Gordon Greger, Landscape Manager, City of Winter Park, personal communication). The phenology of plants in Hawaii, Louisiana, and South Carolina is unknown.
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| Habitat | Within its natural range (modified from Puff 1991b): P. foetida is known from openings or on the edges of wet, evergreen, semi-deciduous or dry, deciduous forests; in woodland and open vegetation types with scattered shrubs and trees; in montane vegetation, on steep wooded slopes, sometimes growing in cracks of rocks; in sandy or rocky sea coasts, sometimes even directly in the salt spray zone. Most commonly, however, it is "weedy" and found in sunny, disturbed places and secondary vegetation such as hedges or thickets, in waste places, roadsides, on fences, in the cracks of walls, etc. It grows at elevations from sea level to 3000 m. <br><br>In Florida: P. foetida is known from fire-excluded Sandhill, temperate Rockland Hammock, and Upland Mixed Forest (for community descriptions cf. Florida Natural Areas Inventory and Florida Department of Natural Resources 1990). At Mead Gardens (City of Winter Park, Orange County), it is naturalized in relatively wet areas dominated by Ilex cassine (dahoon holly), Acer rubrum var. trilobum (southern red maple) and other wetland species (Gordon Greger, Landscape Manager, City of Winter Park, personal communication). Presumably, it is found in other natural communities and is capable of naturalizing in all mesic natural communities in Florida, as well as in some xeric and hydric systems. Wunderlin (1982) listed its habitats as disturbed woods and thickets. Small (1933) listed its habitats as thickets and fencerows. The morphologically similar P. cruddasiana is naturalized in both Pine Rockland and Rockland Hammock natural communities in Dade County. <br><br>In Hawaii: P. foetida is naturalized and often locally common in disturbed mesic forest, coastal sites, dry forest, and subalpine woodland at elevations from 0 to 1,830 m (Wagner et al. 1990). <br><br>In Louisiana: The habitats of P. foetida in Louisiana (if naturalized) are unknown. <br><br>In South Carolina: The habitats of P. foetida in South Carolina (if naturalized) are unknown.
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