Vitis riparia

Native

Moist. Floodplain forests, wooded swamps, upland woods, riverbanks, thickets, and roadsides. Full sun.

Late spring

Greenish-white or greenish-yellow

6″ to 24″ when sprawling

This is a high-climbing, 6″ to 24″ tall when sprawling, perennial, woody vine rising from a taproot.

The vine of the current season is green to gray or brown, lightly ridged, and hairless or lightly hairy. When they mature they become covered with reddish-brown bark. On old growth the bark sheds in long, thin strips. It extends up to 50′.

Tendrils form opposite most leaves but are lacking every third leaf.

The leaves are alternate, yellowish-green, 4″ to 8″ wide, round to egg-shaped, and lobed with a heart-shaped base. They are on long leaf stalks. The lobing pattern is highly variable, even on the same plant, but they are usually divided into 3 forward-pointing lobes. Leaf margins are sharply toothed. Young leaves are hairless on the upper side, hairy on the underside. As they mature the undersides become green and hairless except for tufts of short, soft hairs in the vein axils and sometimes along the veins.

Male and female flowers are found in separate inflorescences on the same plant. The inflorescences are borne opposite most leaves but are lacking every third leaf. They are 2″ to 4″ long.

Flowers are inconspicuous, tiny, greenish white or greenish-yellow and fragrant. They have 5 petals.

The fruit is a black, purple, or blue, ¼″ to ½″ thick juicy berry with 2 to 6 seeds. The berry has a whitish, waxy bloom at maturity.

Silverleaf grape (Vitis aestivalis var. bicolor) leaves are whitish on the underside.

Canada moonseed (Menispermum canadense) leaves are bluish-green and untoothed. There are no tendrils. The fruits are poisonous and contain a single, crescent-shaped seed.