Summary ⁴

This herbaceous perennial plant is a twining vine up to 20' long that can climb adjacent vegetation and fences; otherwise it sprawls across the ground. The slender stems are light green to bright red and round, angular, or slightly ridged. They are largely hairless, except for minute stiff hairs along the ridges. The alternate leaves are up to 4" long and 2" across (excluding the petioles). They are cordate or ovate, smooth along the margins, hairless, and indented at the base. From the axils of the leaves, there develops one or more racemes of flowers about 2-8" long. Each flower is about 1/6" (4 mm.) long, consisting of 5 greenish white tepals, 8 stamens, and an ovary with a tripartite style. The blooming period occurs from mid-summer to early fall and lasts about 1-2 months. Each flower is replaced by a winged fruit about 1/3" (8 mm.) long that consists of the 3 outer tepals enclosing a single achene. This fruit is initially greenish white like the flower, but it eventually becomes brown. This plant reproduces by reseeding itself and can form sizable colonies at favorable sites.
(Source: Illinois Wildflowers)

Sources and Credits

1. no rights reserved, uploaded by Dave Behm
2. (c) Rob Curtis, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Rob Curtis
3. (c) cotinis, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/pcoin/8016401359/
4. (c) Melissa McMasters, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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