Silver Lace Vine Traditional Cache

Silver Lace Vine is gorgeous on Stocking Hall right now. It's related to Japanese Knotweed, that we now know about, and can, like that, become invasive. Let's hope it can be kept in place, so we can enjoy it in the future as well.

Silver Lace Vine

Fallopia baldschuanica (syn. Polygonum baldschuanicum) is an Asian species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by several common names, including Russian-vine, Bukhara fleeceflower, Chinese fleecevine, mile-a-minute and silver lace vine. It is native to Asia (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, etc.), and it can be found growing wild in parts of Europe and North and Central America as an introduced species.

Some authors split the species in two, regarding the Chinese populations as Fallopia aubertii and the Russian and central Asian species as F. baldschuanica.

Fallopia baldschuanica is grown as an ornamental plant for its flower-laced vines, and it is a fast-growing plant that is grown widely as cover for unsightly fences and other garden structures.

However, it has the capacity to become an invasive species by spreading beyond its intended limits. The white flowers are decorative and provide nectar and pollen for the honey bee.

Description

Fallopia baldschuanica is a vining plant with woody, climbing stems known to reach at least ten meters (about 33 feet) in length. The pointed oval or nearly triangular leaves are up to ten centimeters (4 inches) long and borne on petioles.

The inflorescence is an open array of narrow, branching, drooping or spreading clusters of white flowers, each cluster reaching a maximum of 15 centimeters (6 inches) long. Flowers hang on short pedicels. Each five-lobed flower is just under a centimeter long and white to greenish or pale pink, sometimes turning bright pink as the fruit develops. The fruit is a shiny black achene about 2 millimeters wide.

Leaves are somewhat heart-shaped triangular in shape.

The vine is normally covered with large clusters of small silvery-white flowers from summer into fall. The flowers attract honeybees and butterflies so if planted near a garden will ensure that pollinators are nearby.

Silver Lace Vine can grow 6’-10’ or more each season so is ideal for providing a temporary summer screen as it does drop its leaves in the fall. After leaf drop, the woody vines that remain accumulate and become thicker each year providing a partial screen even through winter.

The cache is a tied in, camoed, 35mm film can, with only a rolled log, rubber band and tiny plastic bag. The lid needs to be pried open all around and then pressed closed all around when you're done. Please BYOP and keep track of the parts, so you can put it back the way you found it.

This is on the Cornell campus, which means tricky parking during the week. Weekends you should be able to find parking near by. The Botanical Gardens Visitor Center has one hour free parking, but make sure you print and display the ticket. If you follow my example, you park there, walk to the far corner of the Herb Garden, where there are stairs up to the Street, which has a side walk that will lead you to GZ.