Unwanted and Unloved: Porcelain-berry!

This is the time of year when it becomes apparent that porcelain-berry is making a bold attempt at taking over the world. Or at least vast swathes of Virginia’s forests, especially those near urban areas. Suddenly those white flowers and multi-colored berries are appearing on what seemed yesterday to be innocent green vines…in fact, didn’t you think yesterday that those were grape vines?

Porcelain-berry showing the range of colors the berries assume during maturation process

Porcelain-berry showing the range of colors the berries assume during maturation process

One form of porcelain-berry leaf

One form of porcelain-berry leaf

Experienced weed warriors know the difference, but to the casual observer, the invasive exotic porcelain-berry, (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata), does bear a strong resemblance to our native grapes. Both, in fact, are in the same family, Vitis.

And to complicate matters for people trying to learn to identify it in the field, the leaves of porcelain berry can assume greatly varied forms, even on the same vine.

Porcelain-berry showing an alternate form of the leaf

Porcelain-berry showing an alternate form of the leaf

 

 

 

 

 

 

Porcelain-berry inflorescence and berries, typically upward facing

Porcelain-berry inflorescence and berries, typically upward facing

Thankfully, an easy ‘tell’ shows up this time of year for those struggling with ID. The inflorescence of the P. berry vine is a cymose panicle – its umbrella-shaped top sticks up. The berries also are held upwards, even when the vine is dripping downward.  For more tips on P. berry ID, click here: Porcelain-berry Fact Sheet

The inflorescence of our native grapes are panicles that are broad at the base, tapered at the tip, and droop downward, as do the fruits that follow, just like the grapes you are used to seeing in vineyards. Harder to find photos of the native grapes around the urban areas, too, click here to see some: Native Vitis

Native grape species grow inflorescence and fruit in downward facing habit

Native grape species grow inflorescence and fruit in downward facing habit

Listed by the Department of Natural Heritage in the ‘Highly Invasive’ class, porcelain-berry is a serious threat to our native plant communities. Like all the plants called invasive exotics, it grows rapidly and has few pests because it did not evolve here with the checks and balances of competition from the plants and animals that live here. Instead it takes the place of the plants that supply the resources our native wildlife needs. The Flora of Virginia describes it as “A troublesome, shade tolerant invasive species capable of strangling native forest vegetation.”

Invasive exotics like porcelain-berry, japanese honeysuckle, and oriental bittersweet vines can literally smother forests

Invasive exotics like porcelain-berry, japanese honeysuckle, and oriental bittersweet vines can literally smother forests

 

 

At Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve in Alexandria, porcelain-berry is one of the top seven invasives the National Park Service (NPS) has targeted for removal. Quite a number of Virginia Native Plant Society members have taken the Weed Warrior training the NPS offers, and meet there to engage in the rewarding work of freeing up the natives so important to the marsh ecology.

Ken Adams, currently the Warrior-in-Charge at the Dyke Marsh location,demonstrated some useful techniques recently for battling the thick top layers of porcelain vine that blanket large areas there.  Often it is impossible to know what plants are still alive under the P.berry vine, which kills what it grows over by blocking the sunlight.

Ken Adams demonstrates proper weed warrior techniques. This spicebush was one of the victories at Dyke Marsh.

Ken Adams demonstrates proper weed warrior techniques. This spicebush was one of the victories at Dyke Marsh.

First, lift the vines up and away, and then begin to cut through the stems. The NPS system calls for leaving the plant material onsite, allowing nutrients and organic matter to be kept in place, unless ripe seeds are present. As a wider hole begins to open up, it is easier to see what is underneath and to see where to make more cuts. This method works with any of the other invasive vines as well. Work in a circle if possible, to let the light reach inside the ‘tent.’ Native plants still alive under the covering will regenerate with access to sunlight. Be sure to cut the vines that are connecting to nearby plants. The tree under this mass had been covered for too long, it had died. However, many natives have been released from their invasive prisons, like this lucky spicebush, (Lindera benzoin), so pleasantly fragrant to work around.

Serious  methods are needed to completely eradicate the porcelain-berry plant, but cutting back the fruiting vines right now is a helpful step to take.

sue dingwell

 

28 Comments

  1. Nancy Vehrs on August 19, 2014 at 11:25 am

    Keep up the good work!



    • SUZANNE DINGWELL on August 19, 2014 at 9:46 pm

      Thanks, Nancy! You, too!



  2. abdul rahim on September 20, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    recently i worked on this plant. it is a hell of a job. probably need herbicides to wipe it out.



  3. K. Magee on July 26, 2016 at 12:30 pm

    The problem with leaving the cut or pulled up vines on site is that they will immediately put forth sucker roots from their nodes down into the soil where you dump them and reestablish themselves. I always compost the cut vines and weeds for a year, mixing them with layers of lime and soil, insuring that the whole plant is completely dead and decayed before I dig them back in or put them back into the garden soils.



  4. Eric Martindale on October 29, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    Removed a massive infestation of porcelain berry along Coles Brook in Hackensack, NJ. The mother vine was cut at it’s base and the roots mostly removed. It was 4″ in diameter and at least 30 years old



    • VNPS Communications on October 31, 2016 at 8:31 pm

      Good job, Eric; that took dedication! It’s always great to hear about progress. Keep up the good work!



  5. Joan on June 17, 2017 at 9:26 am

    Thank you! I am in central NC where the native muscadine grape consistently fights for possession of my 1/2 acre. I found a “grape vine” of another variety and warning buzzers went off in my mind. It is growing in the shade and has not yet produced berries. Variation in leaf shapes indicate it is this Porcelain Berry. Gonna rid before berries! Whew.



  6. Terry on July 9, 2017 at 5:56 am

    I have a serious porcelain berry infestation. My 1/2 acre is bordered by a retention pond full of it on north side and a neighbor who lets it flourish on the south. The vine is in all my beds and beds.
    I feel it is a losing battle until I get some help.
    Any suggestions?



    • VNPS Communications on July 9, 2017 at 8:25 am

      Terry, we feel your pain! Thanks for taking the time to write in with your problem. If you live in the area they cover (see map on their homepage), the Blue Ridge Prism is a non-profit battling insvasives that will send out a consultant. They may also be able to help guide you to local resources if they are not in your area. Blue Ridge Prism: http://blueridgeprism.org/
      You should also contact your Cooperative Extension Agent: https://ext.vt.edu/

      Good luck!



  7. Barry Zischang on August 20, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    There are two sides to every story. Yes this vine is highly invasive, but it is literally covered with my honey bees as we speak. It is growing on a steep hill below our house, so clearing it out by hand would be extremely difficult. Herbicides are out of the question because of the bees, and also because we live above a tidal inlet. So maybe this fall I’ll clamber down and pare them back away from some of the small trees they are choking out, but I think this will be a case of learning to live with it. The bees seem to appreciate it!



    • VNPS Communications on August 20, 2017 at 1:44 pm

      Nope, only one side…. Agree that control on your site is going to be a job that extends into the future, but a task well worth the effort. Those small trees the porcelainberry is killing are critical components to your tidal inlet; shade and the nutrient content of your detritus key among them. On the other hand, those honeybees are not critical components of the ecosystem, they are not the native bees and in no way useful to the regional Virginia tidal inlet. The porcelainberry is also choking the native wildflowers and shrubs that could be empowering other wildlife that is native to your area, and now going un-supplied. Every newly planted vine from the spread of your patch is detrimental to a new place. Please see: https://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/ and this is another resource you might find useful: http://www.gettingmoreontheground.com/
      From our VA Dept of Conservation and Rec, how to control tips: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/fsambr.pdf
      And! Thank you so much for taking time to comment! Good luck with your long-term control.



    • Rosemary Bauman on October 13, 2018 at 8:45 pm

      I feel conflicted about this too, even though part of my job in forest restoration is foliar spraying invasive shrubs and vines. Porcelainberry flowers are very attractive to all sorts of small bees and wasps, and the thickets are often packed with various migrant thrushes in fall – gorging on the berries and spreading it around more! And yes it does strangle small trees and take over meadows. Here in Louisville Ky it pretty much occupies every edge habitat, and may be managed but never eradicated.



      • SUZANNE DINGWELL on October 13, 2018 at 9:58 pm

        Rosemary, no need to feel conflicted. We always have to balance our actions, and with your background you surely make good decisions. It is important to remember that the porcelainberry is taking the place of the native plants that would be providing pollen, nectar and cover at the right time for the native wildlife to maximize its use. Porcelainberry is an extremely inferior food source for our migrating birds, lacking the nutrient content and lipid fats they need. In the case of porcelainberry, beauty truly is only skin deep. The edges are of course the most important places for protecting the native interiors of forests. Thank you for your comment, and best wishes on your ongoing efforts to preserve the biodiversity we are going to need to successfully meet the challenges of the future.



  8. Chrystal DAVENPORT on September 6, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    I have these in my back yard herein Washington DC, so beautiful but everywhere. All over the fence, trees and house



  9. Lenny Delaney on September 17, 2017 at 5:17 pm

    First time seen in Woburn, MA They have come out of nowhere and are teaming up with this long thin leaf vine that has small thorns



    • Tina Stoner on December 5, 2017 at 12:46 pm

      I’m disappointed that VNPS has not commented on your Sept.17 report, Lenny. Has anyone been able to identify this other vine?
      For a year & a half, we have owned 8 acres on a hilltop in West Gloucester, adjoining Essex County Greenbelt land. There’s quite a bit of Knotweed, a problem with Bittersweet on trees, and tons of Catbriar (Greenbriar?), which may not actually be an invasive…? I’m working on learning as much as possible about invasives in our area, and about non-chemical means of control & eradication.



      • VNPS Communications on December 6, 2017 at 10:13 pm

        Tina, We do hate to disappoint! But Tim’s description alone is not nearly enough for us to make an ID. We’d need a good photo showing details of plant’s structure. There are a number of online groups that specialize in doing ID from photos on Facebook. If you search for “Plant identification” on Facebook, you’ll find a number of them. Locally your extension service may be available to help you also.Greenbriar is a native; this is from our blog: https://vnps.org/smile-smilax/
        We wish you well in your quest to learn more, and thanks for your comment.



  10. Matt Molinski on October 10, 2017 at 8:22 pm

    Found this at harkness memorial state park in Waterford, CT.



  11. Julie Sullivan on June 5, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    The easiest way to identify porcelain berry versus wild grape is to turn the leaf over. Porcelain berry is always shiny and grape is always dull.



  12. Julie Sullivan on June 5, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    Does anyone have a picture of the seed leaves or cotyledons? I’d like to identify them when they first appear.



  13. Carol P. on August 23, 2018 at 4:00 pm

    This porcelain berry is all over the sides of the roads in Fairfax County in addition to people’s yards. (Thankfully I got it out of my yard – for now….) but what is being done to kill it and keep it from spreading all along the roads of Fairfax County? Homeowners are going to need some help in beating this back since birds are eating the Berry’s from along the roadside and “planting” it in our yards. Thanks!



  14. VNPS Communications on August 23, 2018 at 4:44 pm

    Most roads in Fairfax County are maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news2/new-map-shows-who-maintains-roads-in-fairfax-county/). Some research would be needed to find out what polices and procedures control how Virginia DOT manages roadside vegetation.



  15. Alan Ford on August 23, 2018 at 4:46 pm

    Thank you for asking about public property. This is a challenge and quite honestly we need everybody to help in this effort. Volunteering with the county weed warrior groups can be a useful way to learn the skills and tricks of invasive control. in Fairfax County this is the IMA program. https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources/ima
    Other counties have similar efforts in place.
    Any road right of way in the state is the responsibility of VDoT and frankly they do not have the workforce necessary to control invasives throughout the region and the state.
    If the land is adjacent to any county park or other facility you can reach out to that agency for permission to cut the vines.



  16. Tori on September 1, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    Oye! The robins are going nuts eating the berries right this minute! Should I be pulling this out this weekend while the berries are still on there or let the birds have their fill and pull it out in another week or two and then do a better job next year keeping it cut back? Right now the only thing this vine is torturing is the bamboo (I did not plant that!), another invasive.



  17. suzanne dingwell on September 1, 2018 at 10:58 pm

    Tori, pull it out now by all means. You are not doing the robins any favor, it has been proven that porcelainberries are inferior in nutrient content for any of our native birds. Like eating cheetos instead of peanut butter. And the berries that are leaving your property via birds are contributing to invasive infestations far beyond your own boundaries. Thanks for caring!



  18. Suzanne Walling on October 11, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    Smithfield VA.
    How can I convince my friend to stop cultivating Mimosa Trees?



    • SUZANNE DINGWELL on October 13, 2018 at 10:03 pm

      Suzanne, we certainly thank you for asking!! There are a number of great articles out there to use for educating others about the problems with mimosa; here is one with good facts and also a little humor. We definitely hope you are successful. But if not, plant more natives in your own yard! Here you go: https://www.southernliving.com/garden/grumpy-gardener/mimosa-the-wonderful-weed



  19. Ann on November 7, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    Porcelain vine has taken over the bittersweet that has been a problem for the last few years on my Oceanside cape cod land. So far it seems the lesser evil. How to control.