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.
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.