Ever seen a Moth Vine fruit?

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We have an invasive danger to our shrubs and trees here in South Africa, that was brought in as an ornamental plant.

Greetings to all and today I will show you a stranger in a place where it does not belong.
Wherever this plant grows, it strangles support structures such as trees and shrubs and due to it's lightweight seed distribution properties, it grows prolifically in abundance.
Come and have a look.

Here one of the fruits was in it's natural opening process in order to release it's seeds.
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Araujia sericifera is a perennial vining plant in the genus Araujia, of the family Apocynaceae. The species was described in 1817 by the Portuguese botanist Félix Avelar Brotero. The synonym Araujia hortorum is in more frequent use in New Zealand.Its common names include moth plant, white bladderflower, common moth vine, cruel vine and false choko.

Seeds that are lightweight and distributed by the wind.
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Look at this! I call it a mess of seeds and they were all over the place.
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The fast-growing vines can cover a tree canopy in two or three years, competing with the tree for light, water, and nutrients. They damage trees by this competition and by twining so tightly around their branches that it girdles them.

The yellow leaves on the ground are from a Mulberry tree that has shed it's leaves, as it is now winter here.
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The plant is native to South America. It was introduced to Europe and other areas as an ornamental plant, but it is now considered a noxious weed. Nowadays its geographical distribution includes southern Europe, South Africa, North America (California, Georgia), South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay), Australia and New Zealand.
Source of all sections in Italics.

Another amazing fact that you can read about in the source article is that the Monarch butterfly caterpillars also visit this plant.

Like I said, it's an invasive plant and when found it should be removed immediately. A very big task here as they are all over the place.

And That's All Friends!

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60HS

We hope that you enjoyed the pictures and took note of the information.

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Such and other plants are all over the world since people travel. They live well in their original environment but destroy other plants in their new home just because some people think the'd make a nice decoration. We have also got some plants which are toxic or kill other plants. But we have also got good things from overseas hundreds of years ago: the potato ... and the potato bettle.
Your plant seem to be a really bad species. I hope that they find a solution against it.

!BEER and !WINE - both make a nice dinner with !PIZZA :)
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Good evening Hannes,

We have teams working here to clear alien vegetation and plants, but it's a never ending battle.
The winds are strong and they carry those seeds for many miles all over.

Yes indeed, potatos are good weeds and we also love them and their beetles.

Cheers and thanks.

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Good evening Zac,
yes, I do also believe that such battles will not end - I think over time these plants will overrule the plants who have been living here before, but one day the people will live with them as they had always been here.

So you like the potato beetle? The beetle who destroys whole potato fields and also other farm plants? As kids we have been on the potato fields collecting them before they could destroy the potato harvest of a year. I think you mean another beetle ;)

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
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Good evening Hannes,

I also fear that the day will arrive when all of the beautiful local bushes and trees are all strangled by these forign demons. So we will report those plants to the farm management and also to the eradication teams. I think Marian has already done that.

Last year we found a a strange borer beetle and what they do is that they bore into oak trees and make nests inside the tree. When their babies are born they eat the tree on the inside and the tree rots and dies. So Marian reported it and the council treated all of the trees with chemicals.
Now the trees are still there and the borer beetles are gone.

Maybe I wasn't thinking too clearly my friend. Happens to me more often lately. Potato beetles are indeed a pain and I think that the Agri division has developed an organical spray that takes care of them. So you caught beetles by hand as a child and we caught snakes in the citrus orchards.
We both were active little buggers methinks 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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We have bark beetles here which do about the same. I don't know if they are using chemicals, but I think they cut the trees.

I think I prefer to collect the beetles instead of snakes ;) - yes, and we liked to help our neighbors :)

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Right, Marian is tyoing for me now afte this one as I want ti be in bed at 10.

So sad to see a 300 yr old tree cut down causew of th beetles.

Ha, we had ti work fr pocket money.

Crheers and thanks.

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It's bed time also for me anyway ;)

Yep, it's sad, but the tree would die anyway and might even "infect" other trees.
I can't remember if we got money, but we certainly have got some goods from the farmers.

The !PIZZA is out, but I still have a !BEER left - cheers :)
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I should have said to see a clump of trees cut down, as the other ones were also infected.
We hope that they will plant new trees where they cut the old ones down.

1 penny for a snake was not much, but in those days 1 penny could buy a handful of sweets 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Here they plant new trees where others have fallen or were cut because of a disease.

Money has been much more worth when we were kids.

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
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(Edited)

Guess what? They have indeed planted new little trees there. It seems that people have donated the trees as there are little arty message plaques tied to the stems of the new trees.
What a wonderful sight.

Oh yes, 1 penny was worth a lot and today they throw 1 cent coins away. But the government has abolished 1, 2 and 5 cent coins and 10 cents are now our smallest denomination.
But 10 cents is also worthless on its own as nothing is priced at 10 cents and even 50 cents is worthless.
You know what I would say here.

Cheers and thanks.

Cheers and thanks.

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Such is life, my friend, but you see that it still is possible to surprise you when good people give their money to plant a tree 😁

Our 1, 2 and 5 cent coins also have almost no worth, but they are still here. I'm collecting them since we have changed from the Schilling to the Euro. One day I will give them to my daughter to buy her bridal shoes.

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
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Oh yes, there are still many caring souls in this world my friend and we were so glad to see all of the new saplings.

So you are collecting them and I also have a bag full of old coins. Pennies, cents, 2 cents, 5, 25, 50 cent pieces and some others. I will leave them for the grandkids when my time is up.
I think every second guy has a bag full of coins that they collect 😊

Cheers and thanks.

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, it's been tradition here to collect 10 Groschen coins for the bridal shoes. Now we have the Euro cents.
I know also a few people who collect for such a reason.

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
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Wow, that tradition is new to me and it certainly sounds like a great reason to collect coins for the bridal shoes. So what do the guys do whose daughters cannot get a husband?
Ah, okay, I know as they save up more coins to buy her a husband 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Haha, I hope she finds a rich husband who wants to buy her shoes himself, so I can use the coins to buy me something nice 😉

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
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Hahaha, we also hope so, but she is a caring soul and with our luck she will bring home some out and down guy that she picked up on the street 🤣
Those guys all have soft stories that can make a woman cry for them 🤣

Imagine if she gets a young go getter and he is so happy with her that he buys her father a brand new van. Dreams are made of this 🤣🤣🤣

By that time you will be older and you can then keep the coins to pay for your mad pills 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Haha, I might not be a "real" detective, but I think I can recognize such people when I see them ;)
If he buys me a van he would be heartly welcome if the van is bought under my name :)

Yep, you might be right, so I will carry on collecting them 😁

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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The sad thing is that you will have no say in it. She will marry who she chooses and we can only hope that the good way that you raised her as parents will be successful when she chooses her man.
Maybe he might even be a bit like you 😉
We can only hope.

Let's see what the future brings and yes, hodl your coins 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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He can be however he wants, but not like me - one of my kind is enough 🤣
You're right, we can only wait and see what the future brings.

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Of course you are the leader of the mountain goats and therefore you have to be alone at the front 🤣
For now we have to rather concentrate on her education and the love things can wait until its their time.

Plus we have to save coins and bucks for the van and such things 🤣

Some wise guy said that if you worry about tomorrow, you will take the power out of today.
He didn't know that our electricity company can take the power out of both today and tomorrow🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, she should study and get a good job one day, love can wait - I will tell her 😎

Haha, at least you can make jokes about your power cuts 🤣

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
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Ha, love is a funny thing my friend. It normally starts with an attractive and intelligent like minded person.
But a while later the intelligent and attractive person becomes lazy and rotund and then love leaves by the back door, or the woman starts to kick a bum every day 🤣
The problem is that love can strike at a any time and then for so many the trouble starts.

Let's just hope that she doesn't become so educated that she becomes a spinster, as we want grand children someday 🤣

Well, we can laugh and we can cry, so I rather select the first option, as I never carry a hanky or tissues.
Normally when I cry it is snot and water all over the place that looks very unbecoming.
But laughing out loud also has a downside as I start coughing and passing winds. (ocassionally), so I rather giggle hysterically 🤣🤣🤣

Did I tell you that there is madness in my family? I am the mad one and so there's madness in my family.
Makes perfect sense to me and I think that a certain Austrian mountain goat also has one or two screws missing upstairs. 😉

Written in jest and all lights, or is rights reserved 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, love often comes when we don't expect it and goes the same way, but sometimes it stays 😀

Well, she says she doesn't want to have kids, but in her age I said that too, and I have got two 😊

You think I am missing a few screws in my thinking machine? Apart from these screws I also forget to fill up the gas tank sometimes or fill in the wrong gas 🤣

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
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Hahaha, and at times love can also destroy our nerves my friend 🤣
Now the emojis are working again and thank you for fixing it 💋 🤣

Sometimes like Marian they really don't have kids and make everbody elses kids their own kids by feeding them 😉
Let's hope for you case that she will have at least 7 children and if not then send her here so we can show her how many kids to have 🤣

Or forget the names of things such as thorny bushes, flowers and most other things. But there's hope as at least you don't forget your name, but the day that you forget your name phone me and I will give you the name of the pills that I take 🤣🤣🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, it was hard work, but I could fix the emojis 🤣 lol

7 grand kids? Do you want to completely exhaust their grand father? 😅

Hm, I will keep that offer in mind in case I should ever forget that my name is Franz, or was it Walter? 😉

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
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Yes thank you and you are quick to fix those emojis 🤣

Hahaha, the thing is that quite often a joke can turn into the truth my friend.
So you have to save many more of those coins, just in case you are swamped by grandchildren 🤣
You might even have to forget about the new van and rather buy a bicycle 🤣
(I am really laughing here)

No, my friend, you see? It's happening already and the last time we spoke your name was Helmut, so I am only kindly reminding you 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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My pleasure ;)

A bicycle with a trailer for the kids or for their diapers.

Aha, so my name is Helmut. I hope I don't forget it again, but if I do, I know whom to ask 😂

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
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A big trailer for the diapers of 7 grandchildren methinks 🤣

Hi Frank, what I think is that you must make a list of 100 male names and adopt them all.
So the both you and I will be able to call you by any name and then most of the times we will be right 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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I hope your wish for many grandchildren will not come true 😅
Haha, who's Frank? Am I Frank? I can't remember one name, how could I remember 100? And I'm sure I will loose the list or forget where I have put it, but the idea is great 🤣

The !PIZZA is out, but not the !BEER :)
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I will tell you a secret my friend, many jokes that I have made came true and I also hope that this one about the grandchildren does't come true. It all depends on the genes of your daughter.

We have a young family here that planned for 3 children. They tried for a boy first, but it was a girl. Then they tried for a boy again and again it was a girl. Then the wife went for some kind of treatment and the third child turned into twin boys.

So now I know that twins run in your, or your wife's families. 3 kids can turn into 3 twins and then you will have to change 6 nappies. If Tim has one baby at the same time, then you will baby sit 7.

Now the nightmare is if he and his wife also start to deliver twins? Nightmares bro 😜

Hahaha, remember that I am only making jokes and this will never happen 😉

Who's Frank, I thought it was George or Peter? Or didn't you have a biblical name John?
I am as confused as you are and you are so right, as we will both lose the lists. 🤣
So have a good night Heinz.

Cheers and thanks.

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You know what I will do with 7 or more grandkids? There will be a big box with some air holes in it and a few bottles of water. The box will be sent via air mail to South Africa and guess who will be the recipient of the package? 🤣

Just call me Silver Goat ... or goat ... or stinky farm animal with long horns and a beard ... or hm, I don't know 😁

!BEER and !WINE - both make a nice dinner with !PIZZA :)
!invest_vote

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Now here is some shocking news for you Hannes.
The box will be sent back to you empty with some severe panalties that you will have to pay.
Due to our slow delivery of our postal service they will have to trace us at a cost, as by the 7 years that they take to deliver the box the grandcildren will be 7 years old 😜

You will have to pay 20,000 Euro for the delivery service and 120, 000 Euro per year for each child as maintenance for housing and schooling 🤣

So future grandad I think you you should rather Hodl the children and pray for Hive to moon 🤣

No, no I think that I will rather call you by your name Heinz 😉

Cheers and thanks.

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Well, that doesn't seem to work as planned. Maybe I should sell them in the Darknet, if I only knew how to get there 🤣

Heinz like the Ketchup?

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
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Ah! I am starting to hear a very desperate man here and I think that the image of three sets of twins in your mind is starting to haunt you 🤣

Hahaha, Ketchup is only good on hot dogs Klaus.

Cheers and thanks.

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I can always take my tent and hide somewhere in the woods 😂

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
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Sorry, out of BEER, please retry later...

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