Common Name:
VIRGINIA CREEPER
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
5
Coefficient of Wetness:
3
Wetness Index:
FACU
Physiognomy:
Nt W-Vine
R. W. Smith
Thickets, swamps, and upland deciduous forests, often festooning trees in swamp forests and floodplains.
The undersides of the leaflets, at least on the main veins, and the petioles are usually ± puberulent in our specimens, although rarely they are completely glabrous. The fruit is not reported to have more than 3 seeds. A strong climber, this is the only other native species besides poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) that will climb up tree trunks using short aerial roots formed along the vine. Rapidly growing climbing shoots may have small leaves with only three leaflets; such shoots are not found in P. inserta.