BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Virginia Creeper 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Virginia creeper is a woody, deciduous vine 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].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


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].




SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Virginia creeper grows over a wide geopghaphic 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].


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].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Virginia creeper flowers between June and July; fruit ripens between
August and October [11].

Related categories for Species: Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Virginia Creeper