Keep Your Eyes Peeled for an Invasive Plant - Cinnamon Vine

Keep Your Eyes Peeled for an Invasive Plant - Cinnamon Vine

The CISMA Team of the Van Buren Conservation District are Southwest Michigan’s invasive species experts. This year, we are turning our eyes towards invasive cinnamon vine. Cinnamon vine grows quickly, “blanketing” large areas and crowding out native plants. It spreads by seed and by dropping small potato-like structures, known as bulbils, off the vine. It can also spread via root tubers, which are thick, nutrient dense root pieces that new vines can grow from. Starting this spring, the CISMA Team will be surveying and treating known locations of cinnamon vine in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties. We will also manage new locations of cinnamon vine, pending landowner permission.

Cinnamon vine has very shiny, heart-shaped leaves, and it grows well in moist, disturbed areas. The thin vines spiral counter-clockwise. Their small, spiky, white or greenish-yellow flowers smell like cinnamon. If you think you have found cinnamon vine, please report it to the CISMA Team.
You can do this easily using an app called INaturalist. Make a free account, and then you can make reports in minutes with a smart phone! You can also contact the CISMA Team with any questions you have.

If you think you have found cinnamon vine, email pictures and location information to StrikeTeam@VanBurenCD.org or call or text 269-366-7287.

To treat cinnamon vine, the CISMA Team will use backpack sprayers to apply aquatic-approved herbicides on the leaves of this plant. These herbicides will have the active ingredients glyphosate or triclopyr. Anyone treating cinnamon vine with herbicides will be MDARD Certified Pesticide Applicators. Applicators will use techniques to reduce herbicide exposure on off-target plants and in water bodies.

Thank you for helping your local Conservation District protect our shared resources from invasive species!