Peppervine
Nekemias arborea
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in swamp forests, marshes, wet thickets, moist to wet maritime forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 20–35 feet
- Spread
- 8–10 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 9 ft apart from its recorded spread. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Summer
- Fruiting season
- September to October
Recorded in 20 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Arkansas. Shared habitat, not food. 119 animals.
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Brown CreeperCerthia americana
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Double-crested CormorantPhalacrocorax auritus
- Downy WoodpeckerPicoides pubescens
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
- Eastern Wood-peweeContopus virens
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
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Who uses this plant?
14CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Ampelopsis
- Acoloithus falsariusClemens' False Skeletonizer Moth
- Alypia octomaculataEight-Spot Forester, 8-Spot Forester
- Amphion floridensisNessus Sphinx
- Darapsa myronVirginia Creeper Sphinx
- Deidamia inscriptumLettered Sphinx
- Enyo lugubrisMournful Sphinx
- Eudryas grataBeautiful Wood-Nymph
- Eulithis gracilineataGreater Grapevine Looper
- Eumorpha achemonAchemon Sphinx
- Eumorpha intermediaIntermediate Sphinx
Show all 14
- Eumorpha pandorusPandorus Sphinx, Pandora Sphinx
- Harrisina americanaGrapeleaf Skeletonizer Moth
- Monochroa absconditellaStrawberry Crown Miner
- Sphecodina abbottiiAbbott's Sphinx
7BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Ampelopsis
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Ampelopsis
- Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Vitaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 7a–9b
- Flower color
- Green or white
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Several stems
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- September
- Fruit ends
- October
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Summer” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition, USDA PLANTS differ)
- Flower color · “Green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Several stems” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 7a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “20–35 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “8–10 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Ampelopsis arborea
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AR status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (2013)
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Arkansas occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications