Parthenocissus vitacea

Native

Moist.

June to July

Yellowish green

Up to 1′ when a ground cover

This is a perennial, woody vine.

Stems are green when young, becoming reddish to grayish brown and woody with age. They can extend up to 30′. They can climb trees, shrubs, and fences, but are more often found sprawling on the ground, creating a ground cover.

The leaves are alternate and on long leaf stalks. They are divided into 5 leaflets radiating from a common point. The leaflets are 2½″ to 4″ long, 1½″ to 2½″ wide, egg-shaped, with a wedge-shaped base and a pointed tip. The upper surface is glossy green and hairless. The lower surface is paler and hairless or with hairs along the main veins. The margins are coarsely toothed, mostly above the middle, not near the base.

Tendrils emerge from the stem opposite from the leaves. They have few branches and have twining tips. They do not have sticky pads at the tips.

The inflorescences emerge both at the end of the stem and opposite from the leaves of the current year’s growth. They are widely forked, creating 2, sometimes 3, diverging clusters. The stems of the clusters fork again into two more or less equal divisions. There is no central axis. There are 10 to 60 flowers per inflorescence.

The flowers are about ¼″ across with 5 yellowish green petals.

The fruit is a spherical berry with thin flesh and 1 to 4 seeds.

Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) has tendrils with many branches. The tendrils have adhesive disks at the tips. The leaflets are dull green above. The leaf margins are toothed from the tip almost to the base. The inflorescence has a zigzag central axis. It is usually in more shady areas.