Amur Peppervine, Porcelain Berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Plantae
Phylum	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Superorder	Rosanae
Order	Vitales
Family	Vitaceae
Genus	Ampelopsis
Species	Ampelopsis glandulosa

Scientific Name

Ampelopsis glandulosa var. brevipedunculata

Scientific Name Synonyms

Ampelopsis brevipedunculata

Ampelopsis heterophylla

Common Name

porcelain-berry

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

Deciduous, woody vine of the grape family to 20 feet (5 m) long, running and climbing over shrub and tree crowns and rock faces by clinging tendrils, forming thicket and arbor infestations. Heart-shaped leaves with up to 6 deep lobes and toothed margins, axillary flat clusters of inconspicuous yellowish flowers in spring, and multicolored spherical fruit of white, green, or blue in the fall and winter.

Stem

Woody vine to 4 inches (10 cm) diameter, climbing by tendrils with forked ends and fine hairs (tendrils not forked on native grapes). Tendrils occur on new growth, opposite leaves. New stems are whitish green, smooth to lightly hairy, slightly square with regularly spaced swollen nodes, increasingly with raised dots (lenticels) that become corky and reddish, eventually forming linear gray-reddish barky patches. Bark glossy light gray becoming gray and rough with persistent swollen nodes. Pith is white, while native grape pith is brown.

Leaves

Alternate, simple and heart shaped in outline but variable in form from entire with 1 to 3 tips to those with multiple incised, rounded to scalloped lobes between 3 to 5 prominent whitish veins radiating from the base. Margins coarsely toothed with distinctive fine whitish hair tips. Dark green to blue green, shiny above and fine hairy beneath, becoming yellow in fall. New leaves tiny at branch tips, progressively increasing up to 6 inches (15 cm) long and 4 inches (10 cm) wide. Petioles 2.5 inches (6 cm) long, light green and hairless, with greatly swollen bases.

Flowers

June to August. Numerous tiny-branched clusters (cymes), with up to 40 flowers, opposite new leaves and fruit in midsummer. Flowers tiny with 5 spreading white petals (grape petals touch at tips) and 5 yellow erect stamens (hand lens may be required).

Fruit and seeds

July to January. Drupes in clusters, shiny, spherical, to 0.5 inch (1.2 cm) wide, green tipped with a persistent pistil and turning whitish, yellow, purple, turquoise, and porcelain blue (thus the common name), with all colors sometimes present. Each drupe contains 2 to 4 seeds. Persist in winter at most leaf axils.

Ecology

Occurs on a wide range of sites and grows rapidly to form exclusive infestations along forest edges. Found as scattered plants to extensive infestations in forest openings, margins, and roadsides as well as along stream margins and riverbanks. Areas from full sun to partial shade. Colonizes by prolific vine growth that roots at nodes. Seeds spread by birds and other animals, may be viable in the soil for several years.

Resembles

Resembles grape vines (Vitis spp.) but can be distinguished by flower and fruit clusters of the grapes occur in elongated clusters, while amur peppervine are in rounded or flat-topped clusters with colorful fruit. Peppervine pith is whitish while grapes have darker piths.

History and use

Introduced from Northeast Asia in the 1800s as a landscape plant for the uniquely colored berries. Varieties are still sold in the plant trade.

Distribution

Found throughout the region except AR, TX, and OK with frequent dense infestations in KY, VA, TN, and NC.

Management strategies

Do not plant. Remove prior plantings, and control sprouts and seedlings. Bag and dispose of fruit in a dumpster or burn.
Minimize disturbance within miles of where this plant occurs, and anticipate wider occupation when plants are present before disturbance.
Treat when new plants are young to prevent seed formation.
Pull, cut, and treat when fruit are not present.
Manually pull new seedlings when soil is moist, ensuring removal of all roots.

Recommended control procedures

Thoroughly wet all leaves with one of the following herbicides in water with a surfactant: a glyphosate herbicide or Garlon 3A as a 2- to 3-percent solution (8 to 12 ounces per 3-gallon mix). When nontarget damage is not a concern, apply Arsenal AC* as a 0.25-percent solution (1 ounce per 3-gallon mix) or Chopper Gen 2* as a 0.5-percent solution (2 ounces per 3-gallon mix) in water.
To control climbing vines, cut large stems close to ground level and immediately treat the stump tops with Garlon 3A or a glyphosate herbicide with 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). For large vines, make stem injections using Arsenal AC*, Garlon 3A, or a glyphosate herbicide with dilutions and cut-spacings specified on the herbicide label (anytime except March and April). The EZ-Ject tree injector assists in reaching through entanglements to treat.

* Nontarget plants may be killed or injured by root uptake.

Images

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