Cynanchum rossicum is a flowering plant of the milkweed family. It is a perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 herb native to southern Europe. It has several common names including swallowwort, pale swallowwort, and dog-strangling vine.

Characteristics

It is a twining vine that grows to heights of 60–200 cm (2–6.6 ft). The glossy, dark green leaves grow opposite on the stem and are ovate to elliptical. The flowers appear near the top of the plant and grow on stalks that come from the leaf axils. Each stalk has 5 to 20 flowers. The flowers are dark purple or dark brown. After a year of growth, the stem turns light brown and resembles a decaying stem and stops growing, yet it remains to cling onto the plant.

The plant spreads its seeds by wind dispersal.

Invasive species

C. rossicum is a highly invasive plant growing in all of the Eastern United States, and commonly found in the mid west. It is also found in Southern Ontario

Southern Ontario

Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...

. It is commonly found along with poison ivy

Poison ivy

Toxicodendron radicans, better known as poison ivy , is a poisonous North American plant that is well known for its production of urushiol, a clear liquid compound found within the sap of the plant that causes an itching rash in most people who touch it...

plants.