''Ampelopsis'', commonly known as peppervine or porcelainberry, is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of climbing

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s, in the grape family

Vitaceae The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as Vitis, grapevines (''Vitis'' spp.) and Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia''). Th ...

. The name is derived from the (''ampelos''), which means "vine". The genus was named in 1803. It is disjunctly distributed in

eastern Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan ...

and eastern North America extending to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. ''Ampelopsis'' is primarily found in mountainous regions in temperate zones with some species in montane forests at mid-altitudes in

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

regions. ''

Ampelopsis glandulosa ''Ampelopsis glandulosa'', with common names creeper, porcelain berry, Amur peppervine, and wild grape, is an ornamental plant, native to temperate areas of Asia including China, Japan, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the Philippines. It is g ...

'' is a popular garden plant and an

invasive weed An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species ...

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

'' currently includes:Plants of the World Online: ''Ampelopsis'' A.Rich. ex Michx. (retrieved 26 December 2021)
/ref> # '' Ampelopsis aconitifolia'' Bunge # '' Ampelopsis acutidentata'' W.T.Wang # '' Ampelopsis bodinieri'' (H.Lév. & Vaniot) Rehder # '' Ampelopsis chondisensis'' (Vassilcz. & V.N.Vassil.) Tulyag. # '' Ampelopsis cordata'' Michx. – False grape, raccoon-grape, heart-leaf peppervine or heart-leaf ampelopsis # '' Ampelopsis delavayana'' Planch. ex Franch. # '' Ampelopsis denudata'' Planch. # ''

'' (Wall.) Momiy. # '' Ampelopsis humulifolia'' Bunge # '' Ampelopsis japonica'' (Thunb.) Makino – Japanese peppervine # '' Ampelopsis mollifolia'' W.T.Wang # '' Ampelopsis orientalis'' (Lam.) Planch. # '' Ampelopsis tadshikistanica'' Zaprjagaeva # '' Ampelopsis tomentosa'' Planch. ex Franch. # '' Ampelopsis vitifolia'' (Boiss.) Planch. # '' Ampelopsis wangii'' I.M.Turner

Moved to genus '' Nekemias''

*''Ampelopsis arborea'' – Peppervine is now '' Nekemias arborea'' *'' Ampelopsis cantoniensis'' * '' Ampelopsis grossedentata''

Ecology

''Ampelopsis'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species, including '' Bucculatrix quinquenotella'' and '' Sphecodina abbottii''. Dihydromyricetin, which is an effective ingredient in supplements and other tonics, is extracted from the ampelopsin tree.

Fossil record

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

seeds from the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of ''Ampelopsis ludwigii'' and ''Ampelopsis rotundata'', have been found in the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

part of the

Zittau Zittau (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, Upper Lusatian dialect: ''Sitte''; ) is the southeasternmost city in the Germany, German state of Saxony, and belongs to the Görlitz (district), district of Görlitz, Germany's easternmost Districts of Germ ...

Basin. The

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

species ''Ampelopsis malvaeformis'' was rather common in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the early and middle

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58thermophilous A thermophile is a type of extremophile that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between . Many thermophiles are archaea, though some of them are bacteria and fungi. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earliest bacte ...

plants in the late Cenozoic, Edoardo Martinetto, Acta Palaeobotan. 41(2): 299-319, 2001

References

External links

Vitaceae genera {{Vitaceae-stub