Five-Leaf Akebia, Chocolate Vine (Akebia quinata)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Plantae
Phylum	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Superorder	Ranunculanae
Order	Ranunculales
Family	Lardizabalaceae
Genus	Akebia

Scientific Name

Akebia quinata

Common Name

chocolate vine

Miller, J.H., E.B, Chambliss, N.J. Loewenstein. 2010. A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests. General Technical Report SRS-119. Asheville, NC. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 126 p.

Plant

Woody, semi-evergreen or evergreen vine to 40 feet (12 m) long, climbing by twining to dangle and sprawl in tree and shrub crowns and/or forming solid ground cover, up to 1 foot (30 cm) deep. Small, dark green, palmately compound leaves with 5 elliptical leaflets on long petioles. Infrequent, showy, dangling purple flowers appear with leaves in spring with female flowers infrequently yielding sausage-shaped pods in fall.

Stem

Woody, round, to 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter at the base, with numerous branching stems twining for support on plants or natural trellises or forming ground cover and rooting where nodes contact soil. Lime green and smooth, becoming dotted with many brownish dots (lenticels), then light and dark gray striated and finally light gray speckled with raised gray dots. Leaf scars circular and cleft, protruding alternately or in clusters along the stem.

Leaves

Alternate, palmately compound, usually 5 leaflets, obovate to elliptic or oblong, 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 8 cm) long and 0.4 to 1.5 inches (1 to 4 cm) wide, terminal leaflet usually the largest. New leaves purple tinged turning dull blue green, midvein and 2 lateral veins lighter above and leaflet whitish beneath. Margins entire, tip notched or blunt with tiny hair. Rachis (leaf stem) to 4 inches (10 cm) long, while leaflet stems (petiolules) shorter to only 1 inch (2.5 cm) long. Where deciduous, leaves appear early in spring with no color change before dropping in winter at the first frost.

Flowers

March to April. Small purple-to-violet flowers of 3 sepals (no true petals) in long-stalked clusters of 2 to 5 that appear with leaves and can be unnoticed within the foliage. Fragrance likened to chocolate. Male flowers terminal in clusters, smaller, 0.5 to 0.75 inch (1.2 to 1.6 cm) wide and female flowers, 1 to 1.5 inches (2.5 to 4 cm) wide, extend outward on long stalks.

Fruit and seeds

May to ripening in October. Rarely fruiting. Dangling clusters of 1 to 5 sausage-shaped, fleshy pods, 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) long, tipped like a banana and having a lengthwise suture along one side. Light green, turning pink to purplish with lighter speckles and a waxy coating. When ripe the skin splits to reveal a pulpy, edible inner core that splits further to expose many (100+) imbedded black seeds.

Ecology

Occurs on a wide range of sites, somewhat drought tolerant but prefers moist soils, full sun to partial shade. The dense ground cover displaces native plants and wildlife while vigorous climbing vines cover and kill small trees and shrubs. Colonizes by prolific vine growth that root and sprout. Infrequent seeds spread by birds and other animals.

Resembles

Resembles bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora Walt.) when young due to similar palmately compound leaves with 5 leaflets, but buckeye leaves have pointed tips and pronounced lateral veins.

History and use

Introduced from Eastern Asia in 1845 as an ornamental. Still sold in the plant trade with several varieties that produce fertile seeds when cross-pollinated.

Distribution

Found in scattered infestations throughout the region but not yet reported in LA, TX, and OK.

Management strategies

• Do not plant. Remove prior plantings, and control sprouts and seedlings. Bag and dispose of plants and fruit in a dumpster or burn.
• Treat when new plants are young to prevent seed formation.
• Manually pull new seedlings when soil is moist, ensuring removal of all roots.
• Burning treatments are suspected of having minimal effect due to multiple plants with root crowns that will resprout.

Recommended control procedures

• Thoroughly wet all leaves with Garlon 3A as a 2- to 3-percent solution (8 to 12 ounces per 3-gallon mix) in water with a surfactant (early to midfall).
• To control climbing vines in trees, cut large stems close to the ground and immediately treat the stump tops with Garlon 3A or a glyphosate herbicide as a 25-percent solution (3 quarts per 3-gallon mix). ORTHO Brush-B-Gon, Enforcer Brush Killer, and Vine-X are effective undiluted for treating cut-stumps and available in retail garden stores (safe to surrounding plants). A subsequent foliar application may be required to control new resprouts.

Images

May	May	September
May	May	May	August

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