Five-leaf akebia (Invasive Plants of Maryland)

Five-leaf akebia

Akebia quinata

Summary ⁹

Akebia quinata, commonly known as chocolate vine, five-leaf chocolate vine, or five-leaf akebia, is a shrub that is native to Japan, China and Korea, and naturalized in the eastern United States from Georgia to Michigan to Massachusetts.

Description and biology ¹⁰

Plant: woody deciduous, perennial plant that grows either as a twining vine or a groundcover; slender stems are green when young becoming brown when mature.
Leaves: alternate, dull blue-green, divided into five stalked leaflets that meet at a central juncture; leaflets are 1½-3 in. long, entire (non-toothed), oval shaped and notched at the tip.
Flowers, fruits and seeds: flowers are reddish to purple-brown, about 1 in. across, and have a sweet fragrance likened to chocolate; female flowers are chocolate-purple, male flowers are lighter rosy purple; spring flowering; fruits, if produced at all, are large, soft, edible sausage-shaped pods 2¼-4 in. in length, that ripen in late summer to fall.
Spreads: primarily by vegetative means; infrequently by seed.
Look-alikes: Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), native to the eastern U.S., has palmate leaves with five leaflets that are toothed.

Ecological threat in the united states ¹¹

Fiveleaf akebia is a vigorous vine that grows as a groundcover and climbs shrubs and trees by twining. Once established, its dense growth crowds out native plants.

Sources and Credits

(c) Michael Ellis, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Michael Ellis
(c) ashley CHILE baz, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/28438417@N08/3476849500/
(c) Amy, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Amy
(c) Sara Rall, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Sara Rall
(c) anneanderson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Kim, Hyun-tae, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Kim, Hyun-tae
(c) Lois Lindberg, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Lois Lindberg
(c) Jon Sullivan, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Jon Sullivan
Adapted by Kate Wagner from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akebia_quinata
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22733983
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22948484

More Info

iNat Map

Flower color	purple

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Five-leaf akebia

Summary 9

Description and biology 10

Ecological threat in the united states 11