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Peppervine

Nekemias arborea

Found in swamp forests, marshes, wet thickets, moist to wet maritime forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

59
Strong

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

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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

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At a glance

Life cycle
Woody perennial
Leaves
Deciduous
Bloom
Summer
Fruiting season
September to October

Recorded in 14 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 4

Swamps

View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Forest edges and thickets

Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields
Named place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 153 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Ampelopsis

  • Acoloithus falsariusClemens' False Skeletonizer Moth
  • Alypia octomaculataEight-Spot Forester, 8-Spot Forester
  • Amphion floridensisNessus Sphinx
  • Darapsa myronVirginia Creeper Sphinx
  • Deidamia inscriptumLettered Sphinx
  • Eudryas grataBeautiful Wood-Nymph
  • Eulithis gracilineataGreater Grapevine Looper
  • Eumorpha achemonAchemon Sphinx
  • Eumorpha pandorusPandorus Sphinx, Pandora Sphinx
  • Harrisina americanaGrapeleaf Skeletonizer Moth
Show all 13
  • Monochroa absconditellaStrawberry Crown Miner
  • Sphecodina abbottiiAbbott's Sphinx
  • Bucculatrix quinquenotella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

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
Also known as

Ampelopsis arborea

Conservation status

Virginia rankS4
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources