Woody climbing perennial vines producing tendrils from the stem, opposite the leaves.
Stems with no thorns; bark tight with pale corky spots, or shredding and peeling. Leaves stalked, alternate, lobed or compound; leaflets and leaf veins originating from the base of the leaf blade and radiating outward like fingers on a hand (palmate); leaf edges with teeth; stipules initially present but falling off.
Flowers small, inconspicuous, in cymes or panicles; each flower producing pollen, seeds or both; radially symmetric. Each flower with a nectar-producing disk at its centre. Sepals 4-5, tiny, fused for most or all of their length to form a cup; often overlooked. Petals 4-5, small, separate or fused at top, often falling off as flowers open. Stamens 4-5, attached at base to the nectar disk. Carpels 2, fused to form 1 pistil at centre of the nectar disk; ovary located above point of attachment of other flower parts (superior); style 1; stigma 1, disk-shaped or head-like. Fruit berries; each with 1-4 seeds.

Disturbed sites, forests, rocky shores of rivers or lakes

Vining high-climbing plants; tendrils with adhesive disks opposite leaf stalks. Plant has aerial roots. Stems hairy and green when young; older vines brown, woody and up to 9 cm diameter.
Leaves palmately compound with 5 leaflets (sometimes 3, 4 or 7), toothed, hairy. Middle leaflet, up to 15 cm long, is largest; terminal leaflet smallest. Leaflets oval to diamond-shaped. Upper surface dull green (glossy when young); white covering underneath. Leaf stalk smooth or hairy, up to 15 cm long.
Flowers greenish-yellow in a cyme of 25-200 flowers. Petals boat-shaped. Flower stalks up to 6 mm long, smooth to sparsely hairy, green to reddish.

parthenocissus-quinquefolia-lincoln-nb-20240711_165136758-jim-goltz

Parthenocissus quinquefolia Lincoln NB 20240711_165136758 Jim Goltz

Parthenocissus quinquefolia Noonan NB 18 June 2023 5027 Jim Goltz

Parthenocissus-quinquefolia-Edmundston-area-20190731-Colin-Chapman-ACCDC

Parthenocissus-quinquefolia-2-Amherst-NS-20190802-Colin-Chapman-ACCDC

Parthenocissus quinquefolia_Crocks Point NB_20240629_AFlemming

Parthenocissus quinquefolia

Disturbed sites, forest edges, forests, meadows, fields, roadsides, shores of rivers or lakes, wet or dry thickets

Woody vine with many tendrils. Vines can choke out the trees they grow on. Bark shredding and peeling.
Leaves 10-20 cm long, 5-18 cm wide, shallowly 3-lobed, mostly round to heart-shaped; shallow, irregular teeth. Underside of leaves pale and felt-like with many rusty hairs that turn grey.
Flowers yellow or green in fragrant, oval panicles up to 8 cm long; petals partly fused. Panicle stalk densely hairy. Fruit juicy dark-red to black berries (grapes).<span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji';">

Vitis labrusca

Grapes round, blue-black when ripe, covered with heavy white coating, sour until first frost; 1-6 seeds per grape.

Flood plain thickets, stream and river banks

Vining woody plant usually 5-7.5 cm thick (up to 20 cm); climbs up to 20 m via twining tendrils. Bark brown, peels easily in long, thin strips. New branches sometimes have a waxy coating.
Leaves 10-20 cm long, most heart-shaped, alternate, coarsely toothed and lobed; tips thin and long-pointed. Leaf edges hairy. Underside of mature leaves green to yellow-green, smooth (may retain a few hairs along the veins). Young leaves yellowish and covered in cobwebby hairs that disappear as leaves age. Leaf stalks up to 7.5 cm long, often reddish, smooth or hairy. Fall leaf colour yellow.
Tiny, green, fragrant flowers in panicles up to 12 cm long, produced opposite the leaves. Petals yellowish, partly fused. Pollen (male) and seed (female) flowers on same plants; in same or separate clusters. Flower stalks and sepals hairless. Fruit round berries becoming blue-black when ripe, covered with heavy white coating; 1-6 seeds per grape. Berries sour until first frost.

Vitaceae

Grape Family