Louisiana Plant ID | Ampelopsis arborea (peppervine)

FAMILY: VITACEAE

ALTERNATE COMMON NAME: buck vine, cow vine

LEAVES: alternate, doubly-pinnate to partly tri-pinnately compound; lustrous green above, purplish tint; subleaflets with toothed margins

FLOWER: inconspicuous, light green, in loose stalked cyme; clusters shorter than the leaves

FRUIT: shiny blue-black berries, to 0.4" diameter, inedible, pepper-hot to the taste

TWIGS: tendrils present opposite the leaves on leader stems

BARK:

FORM: woody climbing vine, climbing by tendrils, tendrils sometimes absent; may form dense mats without other plants to climb upon

HABITAT: heavy soils; streambanks, floodplain forests and disturbed areas, fence and hedge rows, moist thickets, old fields

WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative (FAC): Occurs in wetlands or non-wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region

RANGE: Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri eastward to Virginia and Florida [MAP]

WILDLIFE: browse pressure by whitetail deer varies, but high usage has been recorded in Lower Mississippi Valley parishes; valuable bedding cover for whitetail deer; fruit consumed by some songbirds

Best Recognition Features:

woody vine climbing by tendrils, or forming dense tangles without climbing structure
dark green to reddish bi- to tri-pinnately compound leaves
clusters of shiny black berries

School of Renewable Natural Reources	Louisiana Plant Identification and Interactive Virtual Tours Dr. Chris S. Reid, Project Director \| creid4@lsu.edu LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources LSU AgCenter, Baton Rouge, LA © 2003-2020 website problems or broken links: mbowen@agcenter.lsu.edu page revised: 15-Jan-2020 4:11 PM msb	LSU AgCenter
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