Amur Peppervine, Porcelain Berry

Miller, James H.; Manning, Steven T.; Enloe, Stephen F. 2010. A management guide for invasive plants in southern forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–131. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 120 p.

Amur peppervine or porcelain berry [Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Maxim.) Trautv.] is a deciduous, woody vine of the grape family to 20 feet (5 m) long with hairy stems. It runs and climbs over shrub and tree crowns as well as rock faces by clinging forked tendrils, forming thicket and arbor infestations. Heart-shaped leaves can have an entire toothed margin or be symmetrically lobed. Flat clusters of inconspicuous yellowish flowers in spring yield multicolored spherical fruit of white, green, or blue in the fall and winter. Seed spread by animals, water, and gravity. Colonizes by prolific vine growth that roots at nodes when touching the soil. Effective control requires dedicated followup because porcelain berry vines can grow up to 15 feet (4.5 m) in a growing season, especially when rainfall is abundant. Seed may be viable in the soil for several years. Still planted as an ornamental. Resembles the native heartleaf peppervine (A. cordata Michx.) with unlobed leaves and hairless stems, which can also form infestations on fences and shrubs.

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.

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