Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper
Coladoanto, Milo. 1991. Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/parqui
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| PARQUI | Virginia creeper | Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Life Form: Plants/Vine or Liana Kingdom: Plantae Class: Dicot Order: Rhamnales Family: Vitaceae Genus: Parthenocissus | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name for Virginia creeper is Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.) Planch. [8]. Recognized varieties and forms are as follows [33]:
- P. quinquefolia var. hirsuta (Pursh) Planch.
- P. quinquefolia var. minor (Graebn.) Rehd.
- P. quinquefolia var. murorum (Focke) Rehd.
- P. quinquefolia var. saint-paulii (Graebn.) Rehd.
- P. quinquefolia forma engelmannii (Graebn.) Rehd.
Synonyms
- No entry
Other Common Names
woodbine, thicket creeper, five-leaved ivy
General Distribution
Virginia creeper is widely distributed in the eastern and central United States. Its range extends from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, east to Florida and north through the Coastal Plain to Maine and Nova Scotia, west to southern Ontario, and south through parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, eastern Nebraska, and Kansas [33,8].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AR CT DE FL GA IA IL IN KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO NC NE NH NJ NY OH PA RI SC TN TX VA VT WI WV
- Canada: NS ON
Site Characteristics
Virginia creeper grows over a wide geographic range. It prefers soils that are moist but grows well in a wide variety of soil types. Virginia creeper is tolerant of shade but often grows in open places such as the borders of clearings and along fence rows and streambanks [11,33].
Plant Communities
See the Appendix for plant communities and cover types in which this species may occur.
Common associates include southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), greenbrier (Smilax spp.), poison-ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), and grape (Vitis spp.). A complete list of trees growing with Virginia creeper would include a majority of trees growing in the eastern United States [21,24].
Botanical Description
Virginia creeper is a deciduous liana that climbs by tendrils to a height of 60 feet (18 m). The leaves are palmately compound, containing five leaflets, and have acuminate tips [29,32]. The twigs are orange brown, finely pubescent with pinnately branched tendrils ending in adhesive discs. The fruit is a dark purple berry containing four seeds. The flowers are green, perfect, and borne in panicles of compound cymes [13,27].
Virginia creeper growing in Maryland (CC BY 4.0).
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Phanerophyte
Seasonal Development
Virginia creeper flowers between June and July; fruit ripens between August and October [11].
Regeneration Processes
Vegetative: Virginia creeper sprouts from horizontal aboveground stems [29].
Sexual: Wildlife use of Virginia creeper's fruit suggests that its seeds are animal dispersed [32].
Natural germination is epigeal and occurs during the first or second spring following dispersal. Germination can be improved by stratification in moist sand or peat at 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 deg C) for about 60 days [11].
Successional Status
Facultative Seral Species
Virginia creeper is a shade-tolerant, mid- to late-seral species. It grows well under shade but will climb up trees, poles, and other structures to reach the sunlight [9,20]. It is a component of climax forests in the eastern United States [4,5,12].
Immediate Fire Effects
Most fires top-kill Virginia creeper plants [6].
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- No entry
Fire Adaptations
Virginia creeper is not well adapted to fire. The thin bark provides little insulation for the cambium and the often exposed roots [6].
Plant Response to Fire
Following fire, Virginia creeper may sprout from surviving root crown or remaining live stems [1,3].
The Research Project Summary Effects of surface fires in a mixed red and eastern white pine stand in Michigan and the Research Paper by Bowles and others 2007 provide information on prescribed fire and postfire response of several plant species, including Virginia creeper, that was not available when this species review was written.
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name on the Advanced Search page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
Fire can be an effective agent in controlling Virginia creeper. Seedlings and sprouts can usually be eliminated as a result of normal underburning regimes in most commercial pine stands [15,17].
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
Songbirds are the principal consumers of Virginia creeper fruit, but deer, squirrels, and other small animals also eat them [16,30]. Cattle and deer sometimes browse the foliage [11].
Palatability and Nutritional Value
A combination tebuthiuron-fire treatment increased protein content of Virginia creeper in a Cross Timbers oak woodland in Oklahoma. Percent crude protein of plants collected on treated and control plots was as follows [2]:
| Treatment | Year | 1 Jun | 4 Jul | 15 Aug | 1 Sep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | 1985 | 12.6 | 10.7 | — | — |
| Control | 1986 | 10.3 | 8.6 | — | — |
| Tebuthiuron + Fire | 1985 | 13.6 | 12.5 | 14.4 | 12.0 |
| Tebuthiuron + Fire | 1986 | 14.6 | 10.3 | 13.1 | 14.4 |
Cover Value
Virginia creeper provides cover for many small birds and mammals [11].
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
Virginia creeper is used for watershed protection and erosion control [11].
Propagation: Seeds can be sown in the fall or preferably in the spring after stratification. Drilling and covering with about 3/8 inch (1 cm) of soil or mulch is recommended. Optimum planting density is 10 plants per square foot (0.1. sq m). Virginia creeper can also be propagated from hardwood cuttings or layerings [11].
Other Uses
Virginia creeper is often cultivated as an ornamental because of its attractive foliage. The bark has been used in domestic medicine as a tonic, expectorant, and remedy for dropsy [33].
Other Management Considerations
Management considerations call for the control of Virginia creeper when it competes with desirable pines and hardwoods. Aerial application of Arsenal at about 4 to 6 pints/acre (1.9-2.8 l/ha) has been recommended [19].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES10 White - red - jack pine
- FRES11 Spruce - fir
- FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
- FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
- FRES14 Oak - pine
- FRES15 Oak - hickory
- FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
- FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
- FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- No entry
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K084 Cross Timbers
- K086 Great Lakes pine forest
- K089 Black Belt
- K090 Live oak - sea oats
- K094 Conifer bog
- K095 Great Lakes pine forest
- K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
- K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
- K100 Oak - hickory forest
- K101 Elm - ash forest
- K102 Beech - maple forest
- K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
- K104 Appalachian oak forest
- K106 Northern hardwoods
- K107 Northern hardwood - fir forest
- K108 Northern hardwood - spruce forest
- K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
- K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
- K112 Southern mixed forest
- K113 Southern floodplain forest
- K114 Pocosin
- K115 Sand pine scrub
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 1 Jack pine
- 5 Balsam fir
- 14 Northern pin oak
- 15 Red pine
- 20 White pine - northern red oak - maple
- 21 Eastern white pine
- 22 White pine - hemlock
- 23 Eastern hemlock
- 24 Hemlock - yellow birch
- 25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
- 26 Sugar maple - basswood
- 27 Sugar maple
- 28 Black cherry - maple
- 30 Red spruce - yellow birch
- 31 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
- 32 Red spruce
- 33 Red spruce - balsam fir
- 34 Red spruce - Fraser fir
- 35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
- 37 Northern white cedar
- 38 Tamarack
- 39 Black ash - American elm - red maple
- 40 Post oak - blackjack oak
- 43 Bear oak
- 44 Chestnut oak
- 45 Pitch pine
- 46 Eastern redcedar
- 51 White pine - chestnut oak
- 52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
- 53 White oak
- 55 Northern red oak
- 57 Yellow poplar
- 58 Yellow poplar - eastern hemlock
- 59 Yellow poplar - white oak - northern red oak
- 60 Beech - sugar maple
- 61 River birch - sycamore
- 62 Silver maple - American elm
- 64 Sassafras - persimmon
- 65 Pin oak - sweetgum
- 69 Sand pine
- 70 Longleaf pine
- 72 Southern scrub oak
- 73 Southern redcedar
- 74 Cabbage palmetto
- 75 Shortleaf pine
- 76 Shortleaf pine - oak
- 78 Virginia pine - oak
- 79 Virginia pine
- 80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
- 81 Loblolly pine
- 82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
- 83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
- 84 Slash pine
- 85 Slash pine - hardwood
- 87 Sweetgum - yellow poplar
- 88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf oak
- 89 Live oak
- 91 Swamp chestnut oak - cherrybark oak
- 92 Sweetgum - willow oak
- 93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
- 94 Sycamore - sweetgum - American elm
- 95 Black willow
- 96 Overcup oak - water hickory
- 97 Atlantic white cedar
- 98 Pond pine
- 100 Pondcypress
- 101 Baldcypress - tupelo
- 103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
- 104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay
- 109 Hawthorn
- 110 Black oak
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry
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