''Parthenocissus inserta'' ( syn. ''Parthenocissus vitacea''), also known as thicket creeper, false Virginia creeper, woodbine, or grape woodbine, is a woody

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

native to North America. Contact with it may cause

dermatitis Dermatitis is a term used for different types of skin inflammation, typically characterized by itchiness, redness and a rash. In cases of short duration, there may be small blisters, while in long-term cases the skin may become thickened ...

Description

''Parthenocissus inserta'' is a climbing and sprawling woody vine (

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

), reaching lengths of , using small branched tendrils with twining tips. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are palmately compound, composed of five leaflets, each leaflet reaching in length and 7 cm broad. The leaflets have a coarsely toothed margin. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are small and greenish, produced in clusters in late spring, and mature in late summer or early fall into small blue-black berries. The berries are up to wide and palatable. They contain

oxalate Oxalate (systematic IUPAC name: ethanedioate) is an anion with the chemical formula . This dianion is colorless. It occurs naturally, including in some foods. It forms a variety of salts, for example sodium oxalate (), and several esters such as ...

Similar species

''Parthenocissus inserta'' is closely related to and commonly confused with ''

Parthenocissus quinquefolia ''Parthenocissus quinquefolia'', commonly known as Virginia creeper, woodbine, five-leaved ivy, or five-finger, is a species of flowering vine in the grape family Vitaceae. The species is native to eastern and central North America, with its r ...

'' (Virginia creeper). They differ in their means of climbing, with the tendrils twining around plant stems in ''P. inserta'' lacking the round, adhesive discs found on the tendril tips of ''P. quinquefolia'', though the ends may be club-shaped when inserted into a crevice. One consequence of this is that (unlike ''P. quinquefolia'') it cannot climb smooth walls, only through shrubs and trees. In addition, the leaflets of ''P. inserta'' are shiny when young and only slightly pale below, while those of ''P. quinquefolia'' are dull above and pale green, whitened, or

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), ...

below. ''P. inserta'' flowerhead branching is

dichotomous A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

or trichotomous, with branches of equal thickness, while ''P. quinquefolia'' branches unequally, with a definite central axis. The berries of ''P. inserta'' are larger, in diameter, versus 5–8 mm broad in ''P. quinquefolia''. The

petiolule In botany, the petiole () is the stalk that attaches the leaf blade to the stem. It is able to twist the leaf to face the sun, producing a characteristic foliage arrangement (spacing of blades), and also optimizing its exposure to sunlight. Outg ...

s of mature ''P. inserta'' leaflets are typically long, versus

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

or up to 10 mm in ''P. quinquefolia''.

Taxonomy

''Parthenocissus inserta'' was first described in 1887 by Anton Kerner, as ''Vitis inserta''. It was transferred to ''

Parthenocissus ''Parthenocissus'' , is a genus of tendril vine, climbing plants in the grape family (biology), family, Vitaceae. It contains about 12 species native plant, native to the Himalaya, eastern Asia and North America. Several are grown for ornamental ...

'' by

Karl Fritsch Karl Fritsch (24 February 1864 – 17 January 1934) was an Austrian botanist. He was a specialist on the Gesneriaceae and the taxonomy of monocots. Biography Fritsch was born in Vienna, the son of meteorologist Karl Fritsch, and educated ...

in 1922. Separately, in 1893, Ellsworth Brownell Knerr described it as the variety ''vitacea'' of ''Ampelopsis quinquefolia'' (a synonym of ''

'').

Albert Spear Hitchcock Albert Spear Hitchcock (September 4, 1865 – December 16, 1935) was an American botanist and agrostologist. Biography Hitchcock graduated from the Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) with bachelor's degree in 1884 and M.S ...

raised the variety to the full species ''Parthenocissus vitacea'' in 1894. Kerner's epithet ''inserta'' has priority over Knerr's ''vitacea'', so the correct name is ''Parthenocissus inserta''.

Distribution and habitat

It can be found in southeastern Canada (west to southern

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

) and a large area of the United States, from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

west to

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

and south to

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in the east, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in the west. It is present in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, but it may be an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

that far west.Jepson Manual Treatment
/ref> It is introduced in Europe.

Ecology

The flowers of thicket creeper are frequently visited by '' Mordella marginata'', a tumbling flower

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

. Several bee species have been observed collecting pollen from the flowers, including the sweat bees ''

Augochlora pura ''Augochlora pura'' is a solitary Halictidae, sweat bee found primarily in the Eastern United States. It is known for its bright green color and its tendency to forage on a variety of plants. Inhabiting rotting logs, this bee can produce up to th ...

'', '' Lasioglossum subviridatum'', and ''

Lasioglossum zephyrus ''Lasioglossum zephyrus'' is a sweat bee of the family Halictidae, found in the U.S. and Canada. It appears in the literature primarily under the misspelling "''zephyrum''". It is considered a primitively eusocial bee (meaning that they do not ha ...

''. The fruits are eaten by birds. Parthenocissus inserta, Jan Celliers Park.jpg, Leaves and tendrils Thicket creeper (48768910012).jpg, Flowers ParthenocissusVitacea.jpg, Detail of berries

Health concerns

The plant may cause

References

External links

Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q18200021, from2=Q159489, from3=Q40057226 inserta Flora of the Western United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of Manitoba Flora of Ontario Flora of Quebec Flora of the United States Plants described in 1887 Flora without expected TNC conservation status