About Cryptostegia grandiflora (Roxb.) R.Br.
This species, commonly known as rubber vine, can grow up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall when it develops as a shrub. When supported by other vegetation to grow as a vine, it can reach up to 30 metres (100 feet) in length. Rubber vine prefers areas with annual rainfall between 400 and 1,400 millimetres (16 and 55 in), and is well adapted to monsoonal climates. It reaches maximum growth at an annual rainfall of 1,700 millimetres (67 in), but performs best at seed production when annual rainfall is 400 millimetres (16 in) or less. Because of these requirements, rubber vine thrives on, and needs, the extreme variability in rainfall and streamflow that is characteristic of central Queensland. This extreme variability, which is four times that found in other countries where rubber vine has been introduced, is almost certainly why it has become a major weed in Australia and not in any other introduced country.
