Porcelain berry

(Ampelopsis brevipedunculata)

Family: Grape family (Vitaceae)

Native Range: Asia, China, Japan

Porcelain berry, Ampelopsis glandulosa var. brevipedunculata, is an aggressive weed in the Vitacea (grape) family of the eastern United States. This plant is a deciduous, woody, climbing vine or erect shrub native to Northeast Asia—China, Korea and Japan. It was originally cultivated around the 1870s in the US as a bedding and landscaping plant. It became popular for its tolerance of adverse conditions and its ability to provide ground cover. This woody perennial is related to grapes. Porcelain berry is listed as “Likely Invasive” by the Massachusetts Invasive Plant Advisory Group (MIPAG).

However this vigorous invader of open and wooded habitats invades stream-banks, pond margins, forest edges, and other disturbed areas. The thick mat formed by this climbing vine can cover the shade of native shrubs and young trees. It spreads very quickly, growing 25 ft long in a single growing season. It leafs out late in spring, it begins rapid growth by midsummer.

Size:

Surface roots can extend to 25 or more feet. It grows so fast that it can smother a small tree, such as a dog- wood, in one growing season.

Leaves:

The shiny, dark green leaves are arranged alternately and measure up to 4 inches wide and 5 inches long with prominent veins, coarsely-toothed edges, and pointed tips. Their shape varies from heart-shaped to 3 to 5-lobed or deeply dissected. Leaf undersides are hairy to the touch, especially along their veins. Slender, forked tendrils without adhesive discs form directly opposite the leaves on new stems.

Stem/Bark:

New stems are squarish with swollen nodes, slightly hairy and whitish-green. As the stems age, the bark develops gray dots (lenticels), and as the vine matures, the bark acquires rough patches, but does not shred. If you cut through a stem, you will see that the center (pith) is porcelain white and solid at the swollen nodes. Large vines can attain 4 inches in girth.

Flowers:

Porcelain berry gets its name from its shiny, speckled berries that resemble porcelain. The berries can be many colors, including pale blue, lilac, reddish-purple, pink, cream, violet and bright turquoise. Another identifying factor is the plant’s small greenish-yellow flowers and leaves, which can be heart-shaped, deeply lobed, or with toothed edges and a shiny underside.

Seed/Fruit:

Porcelain berries spread both vegetatively and by animals. Birds and small mammals eat the fruit and disperse the seeds through their droppings. The seeds sprout readily and may be viable in the soil for several years. This plant also reproduces asexually by re-sprouting from its roots.

Roots:

Porcelain-berry has a vast, hard-to-kill root system that has a deep taproot and also sends out shallow roots.

Reproduction:

Birds and mammals eat and spread the fruits of porcelain berry. Any industrial or landscaping related soil transfer can also spread the seeds if soil is contaminated with porcelain berry fruit/seeds.

Ecological Threat:

Runs right over and shades out most desirable plants while competing with them for moisture and nutrients.Leafs out late in spring, it begins rapid growth by midsummer. Climbing with slender, two-pronged, branched tendrils, porcelain-berry can grasp onto stems and branches

Background and Distribution:

An Asian species that was brought to North America in 1870 for use as an ornamental vine. It has since escaped from cultivation in numerous locations to wreak havoc on the landscape up and down the East Coast and well into the Midwest and the Province of Ontario.

Habitat Type:

The plant prefers full to part sun and moist soil and hangs out primarily in edge habitats and disturbed areas. You’ll find it growing along and into the edges of woodlands and forests and in gaps in the tree canopy. It can smother vegetation along roadsides, in railroad and utility rights-of-way, old and new fields, fencerows, and recently timbered or cleared land. Although porcelain-berry cannot tolerate standing water, it will grow in riparian areas, especially along watercourses where sunlight is abundant.

Management Options:

Controlling porcelain berries can be done in a variety of methods. As with most invasive plants, the best time to control the spread is during early detection. Repeat treatments will likely be necessary after an initial removal because of the seeds remaining viable in the soil or because of the unseen root fragments from which new growth will occur. Hand-pulling vines in the fall or early spring will prevent flower buds from producing the following season. If the plant is already producing fruit, ensure that all fruit is collected when the stems are being removed to prevent seed dispersal. Chemical treatment may be necessary to supplement the manual method when the infestation is large. Cut the large vines during the summer and allow re-sprouting before treating them with glyphosate.

Biological Control:

None currently available.

Manual Control:

Hand-pulling works only for young plants. With larger plants, pulling does not remove the entire root system. It is nearly impossible to dig up the taproot of an established porcelain-berry. Because its extensive network of roots meshes with roots of neighboring plants, pulling porcelain-berry harms desirable plants. To prevent seed dispersal, if you do pull, cut or mow, do so from winter to mid-summer, before any fruits develop for that season.

Mechanical Control:

Repeated mowing may reduce porcelain-berry’s vigor, but will not provide complete control and might harm desirable plants. To prevent seed dispersal, if you do pull, cut or mow, do so from winter to mid-summer, before any fruits develop for that season.

Chemical Control:

Foliar Spray: Herbicidal foliar treatment is most effective when applied between mid-summer and early fall. Research indicates that some herbicides control porcelain-berry better than others and in higher concentrations than needed for most invasives. Add surfactant to the herbicide if it is not already in the product. To reduce the amount of herbicide needed, cut back the vines and spray the regrowth.
Cut Stump: Find the largest stems and cut them near the ground; spray the cut ends immediately with a concentrated, recommended herbicide. This method succeeds any time the temperature is above 40°F and remains that warm for 24 hours.
Basal Bark: If you can reach the largest stems in the tangle, you can use a basal bark application. Apply a concentrated, recommended herbicide mixed with horticultural oil to the lowest 12 inches of the stems; no cutting is needed. Be careful not to spray nearby desirable plants.

Notice: Mention Of Pesticide Products On This Website Does Not Constitute Endorsement Of Any Material.

Disposal:

When vines are cut above ground they may be placed on a tarp or left in a tree or shrub to dry. However, by summer once in bloom or with berries, the vines must be removed and bagged.

Look-Alikes:

Native vines in the grape family might be mistaken for porcelain-berry. Grapes have brown, not white pith, and the bark on their mature vines is dark and shredding, not patchy. Two grapes closely resemble porcelain berry. Frost grape (Vitis vulpina) has similar-sized, slightly heart-shaped leaves with toothed edges; and its leaf undersides have white hairs along the veins, as does porcelain-berry. Fox grape (Vitis labrusca) has heart-shaped to lobed, dull green leaves with coarse teeth and leaf undersides with thick cobwebby white or reddish hairs. The young stems of both grapes do not have lenticels like those of porcelain-berry.