Government is calling on the public to keep a watch out for two pest vine species being found around the island.

Kudzu and hyacinth beans were reported in Bermuda in 2008 and, despite efforts to remove the aggressive vines, patches remain.

A government spokeswoman said: “The Department of Environment and Natural Resources needs to monitor these invasive species in order to determine if they have spread and to what extent they pose a threat to the island’s plant life.”

Both species are potentially major threats to the island’s environment, blocking other plants’ access to light by growing over them.

“Native plants may weaken and die as a result,” the spokeswoman said. “If left it unchecked, it could spread and cover large portions of homeowners’ yards and smother their hedges, plants and trees.

“DENR is hoping to control these potentially invasive vines before they get out of control, as has happened with other species of vine like morning glory and balloon vine.”

In 2008, hyacinth bean was reported in 16 locations around the island. All areas were treated with herbicide and by this year only six of the areas still had the vines. However, since then, the plant was discovered at six other locations.

The spokeswoman said: “The mature plant can be identified by the flower blossoms that are purple or white. They are easy to spot since they grow in an upward fashion.

“These flowers then give way to seed pods which start out green or purple and turn into a khaki colour as they mature.”

Meanwhile, kudzu vines were reported at three locations in 2008, including the railway trail near Grape Bay where a major eradication effort was made in 2004.

While all of the areas were treated, the Grape Bay area has since seen a “heavy reinvasion” of the vine.

“It is presumed that kudzu was imported into Bermuda from the United States in the 1970s as a fodder crop for cattle,” the spokeswoman said. “This vine grows up to 1ft per day in the early summer and can cover everything in its path.

“Kudzu is recognised as a globally invasive species and poses a significant ecological and economical threat to any habitat that it can establish in. The older a kudzu patch is, the harder it will be to control, and the longer it will take to totally eradicate the plant.”

The spokeswoman warned that both plants can be mistaken for the rare and endemic Bermuda bean. All three species have a trifoliate leaf, meaning each leaf is divided into three “leaflets”, but the leaves of the Bermuda bean are smaller and more elongated.

She said: “Sightings can be reported on www.environment.bm/contact or via e-mail at environment@gov.bm.”