Heartleaf Peppervine
Ampelopsis cordata
Found in moist forests, bottomlands, and thickets, particularly where disturbed. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- About 2 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- April to June
- Fruiting season
- July to September
Not yet recorded · Spread · Life cycle
Recorded in 6 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.

Habitats
Moist forests; floodplain and bottomland forests; forest edges and thickets.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
15CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Ampelopsis
- Acoloithus falsariusClemens' False Skeletonizer Moth
- Alypia octomaculataEight-Spot Forester, 8-Spot Forester
- Amphion floridensisNessus Sphinx
- Androloma disparataDisparate Forester
- Darapsa myronVirginia Creeper Sphinx
- Deidamia inscriptumLettered Sphinx
- Eudryas grataBeautiful Wood-Nymph
- Eulithis gracilineataGreater Grapevine Looper
- Eumorpha achemonAchemon Sphinx
- Eumorpha intermediaIntermediate Sphinx
Show all 15
- Eumorpha labruscaeGaudy Sphinx
- 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
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
- Flower color
- White
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- September
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 2 feet” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Leaf retention · “Deciduous” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL 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 Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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

