Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia

Porcelain-berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Maxim.) T rautv.) ______Description Porcelain-berry is a deciduous, climbing vine of the grape family which can grow, with support, to a height of 16 feet. It is related to two North American Ampelopsis species, raccoon-grape and pepper-vine. The leaves of porcelain-berry are bright green, slightly hairy on the underside, and often deeply lobed with three to five lobes per leaf. Young twigs are also hairy to the touch. The unusual fruits of porcelain-berry, however, distinguish it from similar species. This fruit is also the feature that may be responsible for its introduction to North America. The fruit is hard, with the appearance of porcelain, and changes in color from white to a series of pastel shades of yellow, lilac, and green before finally turning a sky blue. All the colors can often be found on a single fruit cluster.

Habitat lish, it grows quickly and, once estab- Porcelain-berry is a hardy species that lished, is tenacious and can be difficult can adapt to a variety of environmen- to remove. It is relatively insect and tal conditions. It grows well in most disease resistant, and can outcompete soils but is especially successful in native species for water and nutrients. Porcelain-berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata) moist, slightly shady areas along stream The thick mats of porcelain-berry, vegetation as well. If hand pulling is banks, and in thickets. which are so attractive to landscapers, not feasible, porcelain-berry may be re- spatially usurp other plants. moved by the spot application of Distribution glyphosphate herbicides to individual A native of northeast Asia, porcelain- Control plants. As glyphosphate is a non-selec- berry was cultivated in North America Surprisingly, this invasive plant is still tive herbicide, it should be used spar- as an ornamental bedding and screening popular in the horticultural trade. The ingly so as not to contact desirable plant. It spread into natural areas when most effective control is removal from plants growing with porcelain-berry. birds ate the berries and spread the commercial trade and the use of alter- Herbicide treatment is most effective seeds in their droppings. Once native plants for landscaping and gar- when applied toward the end of the established in the wild, this prolific vine dening. Some alternative species in- growing season when plants are ac- spread along the East Coast from New clude trumpet honeysuckle, goldflame tively transporting nutrients from stems England to North Carolina and west to honeysuckle and jackman clematis. and leaves to root systems. As with Ontario and Michigan. Locally, it has Where removal of porcelain-berry is manual removal of plants, follow- been documented in ten counties in necessitated, hand pulling the plants up treatments may be needed in northern and central Virginia. should be done before the plant is in subsequent years to remove plants fruit to avoid scattering seeds. Because which have sprouted from seeds Threats the roots of porcelain-berry plants of- remaining in the soil. The very features that make porcelain- ten merge with shrubs or other desir- Reference berry attractive as a landscape plant able vegetation, this type of manual re- Spangler, R. L. 1977. Landscape Plants for the Central and Northeastern United States Including also make it a problem in natural ar- moval is difficult in well established Lower and Eastern Canada. Burgess Publishing eas. Although relatively slow to estab- patches without damaging the desirable Company, U.S.A. 506 pp.

For more information, contact the Department of Conservation and Recreation, or the Virginia Native Plant Society.

Virginia Native Plant Society P.O. Box 844 Annandale, VA 22003

1500 East Main Street, Suite 312 Richmond, VA 23219

This fact sheet was funded in part by the Department of Environmental Quality's Coastal Resources Management Program through Grant #NA270Z0312-01 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Coastal Resource Management Act of 1972 as amended.