''Nekemias arborea'', commonly known as pepper vine, is native to the Southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. It spreads rapidly, climbing up trees and bushes.http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=AMAR5 USDA . accessed 10/10/2010 It prefers moist soils such as stream banks, and disturbed areas.

Description

: A deciduous to semi-evergreen vine that can be ground cover-like, but is often high-climbing and bushy. Grows 35 ft. or more. : : Leaves are alternate, bi-pinnately divided and up to 6 inches long and wide. There are 1-3 pairs of leaflets. They are roughly ovate and coarsely toothed, dark green on the upper surface, lighter on the lower. Newly emerged leaves are purple-red and change to a light green to dark green as they reach mature size. Foliage turns pale yellow or red in fall. : : Flat-topped clusters of tiny, green flowers are followed by clusters of pea-sized, bluish-purple berries. Fruit fleshy, up to 5/8 inch in diameter, black and shiny when ripe. Fruit attractive to wildlife but possibly poisonous for humans. : Pepper vine (Nekemias arborea)

Synonyms

Its

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

include: ''Ampelopsis arborea'' (L.) Koehne, ''Ampelopsis bipinnata'' Michx., ''Ampelopsis pinnata'' DC., ''Cissus arborea'' (L.) Des Moul., ''Cissus bipinnata'' Elliott, ''Cissus orientalis'' Lam., ''Cissus stans'' Pers., ''Hedera arborea'' (L.) Walter, ''Nekemias bipinnata'' Raf., ''Vitis arborea'' L., ''Vitis bipinnata'' Torr. & A.Gray, and ''Vitis orientalis'' (Lam.) Boiss.

Cultivation

''Nekemias arborea'' is used as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

References

External links

Atlas of Florida Plants: ''Nekemias arborea''
Vitaceae Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of Alabama Flora of New Mexico Flora of Texas Garden plants of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Vitaceae-stub