Mikania micrantha is a tropical plant in the Asteraceae. It is also known as the Bitter Vine in the Commonwealth of The Northern Marianas Island.
Mikania micrantha is a widespread weed

Weed

A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...

 in the tropics. It grows very quickly (as fast as 80 mm in 24 hours for a young plant) and covers other plants. Therefore, various control measures against Mikania have been tried in many countries. It is moderately susceptible to the herbicide

Herbicide

Herbicides, also commonly known as weedkillers, are pesticides used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant...

s 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T and paraquat

Paraquat

Paraquat is the trade name for N,N′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. Paraquat, a viologen, is quick-acting and non-selective, killing green plant tissue on contact. It is also toxic to human beings and animals...

. Cuscuta

Cuscuta

Cuscuta is a genus of about 100-170 species of yellow, orange or red parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae...

, a parasitic plant, has been used in Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

 and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 to suppress the spread of Mikania from waste land to tea planatations. Other control measures are Puccinia

Puccinia

Puccinia is a genus of fungi. All species in this genus are obligate plant pathogens and are known as rusts .Examples of Puccinia rusts and the diseases they cause:* Puccinia asparagi - Asparagus rust...

 spegazzinii fungus and Liothrips

Liothrips

Liothrips is a genus of thrips with almost 300 described species. They are ordered into three subgenera, Epiliothrips , Liothrips and Zopyrothrips ....

 mikaniae insects. It is used to heal cuts and stop minor external bleeding in Fiji but its medicinal properties are still yet to be fully discovered.

The species is native to the sub-tropical zones of north, central, and south America.

Mikania has become a problem in Nepal, covering more than 20% of the Chitwan National Park.

Allelopathy

Extracts from M. micrantha slow the germination and growth of a variety of plant species. At least three sesquiterpenoids have been identified which produce this effect.

Diseases

M. micrantha is affected by a virus called Mikania micrantha wilt virus (MMWV), which is a Fabavirus.