Gorlash, you ask 'What do you see in those images that made you think "doesn't look like a vine to me". Firstly, I did not write 'doesn't look like a vine to me.' Nor did I say 'obviously not a vine' I wrote 'doesn't appear to be GROWING as a vine to me.' There is a difference. I specifically mentioned the way the plant was growing - and it is not growing like a vine. OK, let me explain my thought processes. There appear to be single stems arising from the ground to a height of about 2 feet as far as I can judge. None of them looks much taller, thought the scale is not easy to acertain. Each stem arises separately and does not appear to produce a trailing length. As bboy says vines twine or clamber. They also scramble and there's plenty to scramble on in the photo if the plant had wanted to. There's a fallen branch there which a true climber would have found pretty quickly. A plant which flops a bit is not necessarily a vine - it's possibly just a floppy plant. And since this plant is a Liliaceous monocot which has clearly finished flowering it is probably on its way to dying down for the summer - even more reason to flop. I looked at the leaves which reminded me of Solomons Seal ie alternate, clear parallel veining of a monocot, texture pointing to Liliaceae, pointedly eliptical on arching stems and with fairly deep furrows. However the remains of the inflorescence are terminal rather than all along the stem. Therefore not Solomons Seal. I also checked images for your suggestion of Asparagus asparagoides, a plant I know only from its use in florestry. This has flowers all along the stems like Solomons seal, not terminally. It is also a stiffer bushy scrambling plant. I looked at the picture of the 'vine' in situ. I saw no large bushy tangles just the single knee high stems. Therefore I plumped for a tentative id of Maianthemum racemosum. Perhaps you noticed that I gave it two question marks? I was not saying I was right, just that I was fairly sure it was not the Asparagus, did not grow like a vine and was possibly a Maianthemum. gorlash, I generally try not to id things definitely unless I know them personally, ie not from books, but in the flesh. Sometimes I will make a suggestion for an id if it's a plant I've only seen once or twice or read about but then I will add a rider of some sort eg the ???. The fact that you did not recognise that this plant has clearly already flowered and that floppiness doth not a vine make implies you are in the early phase of your interest in plants so I hope that this explanation will be useful. After a while you will find that you do not go through this process methodically or even consciously. You will start to look at plants and 'just know' stuff eg what family they are likely to be in. Good luck and I hope plants bring you a lifetime of enjoyment as they have me.

i like this site b/c it lists endangered, threatened, introduced, etc. though i haven't fully looked at it. as a matter of fact, i just added this to my favorites list a couple of days ago (funny you should ask). going to the home page will get you other links. there is a link for pics, but keys for id'ing i am not sure. Here is a link that might be useful: illinois natural history survey

I agree with ILuvGinger. Recently I read that one species of Passiflora has become a pest in Hawaii - the fruits are avidly eaten by birds, which then spread the seeds everywhere!

Thanks for you reply Charles!! Nice to hear from you in SA itself. I was born and grew up in JHB in the 50's and 60's in Rosebank and then Craighall. You know what yearly family holidays along the Natal and Transkei coast and game reserve (and all that) do to you for the rest of your life! Here in the south of France it's nice, but.......! This is not a full Mediterannean climate as far as temperatures go, since it gets much hotter (in 2003 we had 41 degrees C for about 10 days) with a long summer period generally ranging from 20 to 35 degrees for 5 months of the year. Rainfall can be scarce during this period and we cazn saley say that watering (I have a well) is reguired during the 2 peak summer months of July & August. Winters are generally mild with only about 15 days frost in the year, BUT most years there is a "cold spell" when there is hard frost at -4, -5 and sometimes up to -10, usually accompanied at the beginning by a bit of snow. There is also a period of about 1 month in January or February when you have heavy winter rainfall with temps in the 5 to 10 degree C range. I think we are in a "Warm Temperate" zone. To give you an idea of what grows here: On the exotic side: there are artificially planted olive trees that do well with no protection. Citrus has to be taken inside in winter. Bouganvillia will survive in the right shelter. There are almonds, figs, pomegranites and loquats. Date palms grow in gardens but need winter protection when young. Soil in my garden is naturally abiout 30 cm deep and is clayey and slightly acid. There are good full sun areas, half shade and full shade. And thanks for that link too!! Hey it gets quite nippy in JHB too in the winter! thanks a ton, Steve in Toulouse