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Name That Plant!

Wild Grape Vine?

12 years ago

Is this a wild grape vine? If so is the fruit edible? The vine is massive and has taken over a sizable area. The immature fruit appears to have multiple seeds so I don't think it's a moonseed vine. If it is a grape and edible I don't mind but if it's not let the battle begin.

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Comments (7)

Embothrium
12 years ago
Probably turn out to be Ampelopsis.
karyn1
Original Author
12 years ago
OMG I didn't even think of that and I've been pulling Porcelain vines out from the other side of the yard by the trashbag full. I'm going to have my work cut out for me trying to get rid of this monster!
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I basically agree with others on this thread that wild Grape vines are native and a natural part of a woodland ecology. If they happen to be damaging a particular specimen, sure they can be hacked, but otherwise I leave them alone. I kinda like the way the vines create a tangle, the birds and other wildlife just love it. On the other hand, I've declared war on the Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) that is a plague in my yard and neighborhood. This non-native invasive vine has laid waste to many native trees, even large ones. I've started carrying a folding saw with me while walking the neighborhood and cutting the large vines. I found one that was over four inches in diameter that was growing up a large dying oak! That baby must have been growing for 40 freakin' years, and nobody ever cut it. Led_zep, I am curious why you need to keep the Gray dogwood under control, which is a native. I would love it if the understory around here included Gray dogwood, now it's just a sea of invasives, mostly Honeysuckle, Buckthorn, and Multiflora rose.
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karyn1
Original Author
12 years ago
Bboy is the Ampelopsis foliage that variable? I'm asking because all the others that I've been removing have had deeply lobed foliage.
texasflip
12 years ago
It looks like grape to me, but take a stem and split it down the middle with a knife. Ampelopsis has pith that is continuous through the nodes while Vitis has pith which is interrupted by a "diaphragm" at the node.
karyn1
Original Author
12 years ago
Texasflip thanks for the info. The pith is definitely interrupted at the nodes. Now is there any way of knowing if this is an edible variety?
texasflip
12 years ago
All grapes are edible but some are pretty sour when ripe. There are many species and they can be very confusing. Maybe Vitis vulpina (frost grape)?
Coupbar
12 years ago
I have this exact kind of grape vine in my backyard. It is sour when mature but tolerable. I prune it back to a stick in the winter and it'll grow to the same size next year very quickly. Grapes seem to mature at around Aug here in Yuma, AZ.

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