Botanical name (parthenos = maiden, kissos = ivy) for the deciduous, liana-like climbing plants. Trivial names are maiden vine, wall cat, wall vine, Veitschi and fence vine in German-speaking countries and Virginia creeper in English-speaking countries. It is one of the 12 genera within the grapevine family (Vitaceae) - as is Vitis, which includes the cultivated grapevines. With the exception of Vitis, all other genera are colloquially referred to as "wild grapes". However, this should not be equated with wild vines, the wild form of cultivated vines. The mostly hermaphrodite flowers, which are capable of self-fertilisation, can ripen into dark blue or black, single, rather inedible berries.
Species
There are around a dozen species that are native to the forests of Asia and North America. However, the various sources sometimes give them different names and synonyms:
- Parthenocissus chinensis (China)
- Parthenocissus dalzielii or Parthenocissus landuk (China)
- Parthenocissus feddei (China)
- Parthenocissus henryana (China)
- Parthenocissus heterophylla (China, Taiwan)
- Parthenocissus laetevirens (China)
- Parthenocissus quinquefolia (five-leaved ivy) or Parthenocissus heptaphylla (eastern North America)
- Parthenocissus semicordata or Parthenocissus himalayana (Himalayas)
- Parthenocissus suberosa (China)
- Parthenocissus tricuspidata or Parthenocissus thunbergii = Veitschi (China, Japan and Korea)
- Parthenocissus vitacea or Parthenocissus inserta (western and northern North America)
Ornamental vines
The special feature is the shoot tendrils at the end, which are transformed into disc-shaped adhesive organs. With the help of these adhesive shells, the usually very frost-hardy plants climb trees and walls up to a height of 20 metres and more and do not require any climbing aids. Due to their decoratively brightly coloured leaves, they are often used in espalier form as ornamental vines for cover crop house walls or fences, which is why they are also known as "architect's rust". See also the keywords vine systematics and grapevine.
Virginia creeper on the left: By User:Linnaeus, Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Virginia creeper right: by Alicja on Pixabay
Parthenocissus vitacea: By Sten, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Parthenocissus tricuspidata: By IKAl - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link
all edited by Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer August 2020
