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Ampelopsis brevipedunculata

Common name:	Porcelain Berry	Family:	Vitaceae
Author:	(Maxim.)Trautv.	Botanical references:	11, 58, 200
Synonyms:	Cissus brevipedunculata (Maxim.), Ampelopsis heterophylla amurensis (Planch.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea, E. Russia.
Habitat:	Thickets in hills all over Japan[58].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. brevipedunculata var. elegans[G] A. brevipedunculata var. maximowiczii[B,G] A. glandulosa var. brevipedunculata[G] A. glandulosa var. heterophylla[G] A. heterophylla[B,G,P] Vitis brevipedunculata[G] Vitis heterophylla[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Amur Peppervine [P,B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	brevipedunculata = short peduncles (little feet); pedunculata = with a stalk;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rhamnales. Grape family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China; Indochina
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

A decidious climber growing to 20m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 4 and is frost tender. It is in flower from July to August. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Fruit; Leaves.

Leaf buds - cooked[105].
Leaves and stems - cooked[2, 105, 177].
Fruit - raw or cooked[105, 177]. The fruit is 6 - 8mm in diameter[200] and is carried in small bunches like grapes[K]. Not very palatable[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiphlogistic; Depurative; Febrifuge.

The fresh fruits, roots and leaves are antiphlogistic, depurative and febrifuge. Resolves clots[147]. It is used externally in the treatment of boils, abscesses and ulcers, traumatic bruises and aches[147].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a deep rich loam in a warm sheltered position in full sun[11, 200]. Succeeds in poor soils[182]. Does well on a south wall[11, 219].
A very ornamental plant, there are some named varieties[182]. Most forms of this species, especially the sub-species A. brevipedunculata maximowiczii. (Reg.)Rehd. (syn A. heterophylla. Sieb.&Zucc.), are very hardy in Britain when dormant, but the cultivar 'Elegans' is frost-tender and usually grown as a pot plant[200]. The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun[K].
Plants rarely fruit in Britain except after a long hot summer[200]. Another report says that if the plant is growing in a poor soil on a south facing wall then it fruits quite regularly[182]. Plants fruit better if their roots are restricted, this can be achieved by root pruning in the winter or by putting the plant into a large container and then placing this in the soil[200]. Growth, especially in good soils, can be very vigorous and this is usually at the expense of the fruits[202].
Any pruning is best carried out in the winter[219].
The shoots have sticky pads and are self-supporting on walls[11]. Other reports say that plants climb by means of coiling tendrils but large plants often need tying in to support the weight of foliage[200, 219].

Propagation

Seed - sow in pots in a cold frame in the autumn or stratify for 6 weeks at 5°c and sow in the spring[200]. Germination can be quite slow, sometimes taking more than a year. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. When they are more than 20cm tall, they can be planted out into their permanent positions, preferably in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 7 - 10cm long, July/August in a frame[78].
Cuttings or eyes in late autumn or winter. Either place them in the ground in a greenhouse or cold frame, or put them in pots. An eye cutting is where you have just one bud at the top and a short length of stem with a small part of the bark removed. These normally root well and grow away vigorously, being ready to plant into their permanent positions the following autumn.
Layering into pots in late summer. Partially sever the stem in spring and then lift the new plants in the autumn[78].

Cultivars

'': There are many named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Vitaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[58] Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965
The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[147] ? A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press ISBN 0-914294-92-X
A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[182] Thomas. G. S. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray 1992 ISBN 0-7195-5043-2
Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[202] Davis. B. Climbers and Wall Shrubs. Viking. 1990 ISBN 0-670-82929-3
Contains information on 2,000 species and cultivars, giving details of cultivation requirements. The text is terse but informative.

[219] Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls Collins 1983 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.

Readers Comments

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