FAMILY: RHAMNACEAE
ALTERNATE COMMON NAME: supplejack
LEAVES:deciduous, alternate, simple; short-petiolate, 1-3” long and up to 1.6” wide, oblong-ovate; shiny green with prominent lateral veins impressed above and pronounced below; margins entire to slightly wavy
FLOWER: very small, ca. 0.08” (2 mm) broad, greenish, functionally unisexual, plants functionally dioecious; flowers born in axillary and terminal panicles; flowering March to June
FRUIT: blue-black oblong drupe to 3/8” long, maturing July to October
TWIGS: fine lateral branches, reddish brown, smooth
BARK: smooth, green-gray
FORM: high-climbing vine, climbing by twining; its twining action can form indentations in the trunks of trees on which it climbs
HABITAT: bottomland hardwood forests, various other mesic forests, fencerows, thickets, brushy rangeland
WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative (FAC): Occurs in wetlands or non-wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region
RANGE: southeastern US; also Yucatan Peninsula and adjacent Guatemala
[Global Distribution Map] [US County Range Map]
USES: stems used for wicker furniture
WILDLIFE: high-value whitetail deer browse; many mammals and at least 17 species of birds are reported to consume fruit
Best Recognition Features:
- woody twining vine with smooth green stems
- eaves shiny above, with conspicuous lateral veins; margins can be slightly wavy
- fruit a purple oblong drupe
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