Weed Information: Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia-creeper)
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Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia-creeper)

Family: Vitaceae

Description

A woody, climbing vine with small, disk-shaped `suckers` at the tips of the tendrils. Fruit a blue-black, grape-like berry. Reportedly toxic. This species is more eastern in its distribution than Parthenocissus vitacea, with which it is often confused, the latter having no disk-shaped appendages on the tendrils.

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Yellow
  • Yellow-green
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Panicle
  • Panicle(s) arising opp. leaves
Number of Petals
  • 5 petals
Petal Separation
  • Completely free to base
Petal Tip
  • Pointed
  • Rounded
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers regular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • 2 mm (.08 inch)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
  • 5 mm (.20 inch)
  • 6 mm (.24 inch)
Number of Sepals
  • 5 sepals
Sepal Separation
  • United > 75% of length
Sepal Tip
  • Pointed
  • Rounded
Flower Sex
  • Bisexual (perfect)
Number of Styles
  • 1 style
Number of Stamens
  • 5 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens NOT attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels united (or one)
Number of Carpels
  • 2 carpels
Ovary Position
  • Halfway (perigynous)
  • Inferior (epigynous)
Fruit Type
  • Berry, black
  • Berry, blue
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 5 mm (.20 inch)
  • 6 mm (.24 inch)
  • 7 mm (.28 inch)
  • 8 mm (.32 inch)
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 5 mm (.20 inch)
  • 6 mm (.24 inch)
  • 7 mm (.28 inch)
  • 8 mm (.32 inch)
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • Alternate
Leaf Type
  • Compound palmate 4 or 5 leaflets
  • Compound palmate > 5 leaflets
Stipules
  • Lacking
Tendrils
  • Tendrils present
Venation
  • Palmate
  • Pinnate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole 25% - 75% total length
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
  • 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.6 - 4.0 inches)
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Dentate
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Acute (cuneate)
  • Acuminate (attenuate)
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Acuminate (attenuate)
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Glabrous (NO hairs)
  • Sparsely hairy
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Semi-woody
  • Woody
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines or Thorns ABSENT
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Perennial
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Climbing vine
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 2.5 - 5 meters (8.3 - 16.6 feet)
  • more than 5.0 meters (16.6 33 feet)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Mesic
Chlorophyll
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Round
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem uniformly leafy
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Tap Root

US State
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Massachusetts
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • West Virginia
  • Indiana
  • Maryland
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • Colorado
  • Iowa
  • Minnesota
  • Oklahoma
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Nebraska
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec
  • Manitoba
  • Newfoundland
  • Saskatchewan
Other
  • District of Columbia

  • More Turfgrass and Related Weeds: Beyond the Color Atlas, 2011 Clemson University Publishing ISBN# 978-0-9798777-5-9 See Page: 351
  • Ontario Weeds, 1992 Agdex 640, Publication #505 See page: 137
  • Weeds of Canada, 1970 Canada Dept. of Ag., Pub. # 948, See page: 117
  • Weeds of the Midwestern United States & Central Canada, University of Georgia 2010, ISBN#0-8203-3506-1 See page: 311
  • Weeds of the Northeast, 1997 Cornell University ISBN# 0-8014-8334-4 See page: 350, 352
  • Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 314
  • Weeds of the United States and Their Control, Lorenzi 1987, ISBN# 0-442-25884-4 See page: 204
  • Wildly Successful Plants, A Handbook of North American Weeds, 1977 (ISBN# 0-02-528850-4) See page: 20, 61, 65
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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