Porcelain Berry (Ampelopsis glandulosa, family Vitaceae (grape family)) is a perennial, woody vine native to Asia. It was introduced into the U.S. in the 1870s as a landscape ornamental. The vigorous growth of the vines and beautiful berries made it a favorite in landscape designs.
Unfortunately, like Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana), Asian Honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.), and Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), the Jekyll and Hyde nature of porcelain berry was not discovered until it was too late to turn back the tide. The same features that make it valued as an ornamental have allowed it to rapidly spread and dominate some landscapes in southwest Ohio, as well as elsewhere in the eastern U.S.
The attractive berries attract birds to spread the joy, and once established, plants behave like Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata). However, unlike kudzu, porcelain berry vines are not subject to winter dieback in Ohio. Although severe winters may cause the furthest extensions of some vines to die, most remain viable to resume over-topping shrubs, small trees, slow-moving gardeners, etc., in the spring.
Porcelain berry tolerates both full sun and shade. The vines lack sticky tendrils to anchor themselves. Instead, the vines twist around anchor points to rise skyward, forming dense mats that shade out the competition. Indeed, I’ve observed porcelain berry outcompeting some of the most aggressive non-natives, such as Asian honeysuckles and multiflora rose.
Online references note that with plenty of soil moisture, a single vine may grow 25 ft. in a season. I can confirm this, having observed vines climbing at least 25 ft. in a single season into a mature sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) growing near a stream. Frankly, I get nervous when I get too close to the aggressive vines!
Porcelain berry’s taxonomy is a bit muddled. The scientific name, Ampelopsis glandulosa, is synonymous with A. brevipedunculata. The plant that’s eating Cincinnati is sometimes referred to as (A. glandulosa var. brevipedunculata). This is important because porcelain berry appears in both the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists of “Invasive Plants” as A. brevipedunculata.
Surprisingly, you can still buy porcelain berry seeds online. Just do a Google search using “porcelain berry plants.” One online seller that provides seeds for a variegated variety, A. brevipedunculata 'Elegans', offers this classic understatement, “Easy to grow and full of potential.” Indeed, there’s a potential for plants to cover and smother shrubs and small trees.
Thankfully, my web search revealed that the number of sellers is far outnumbered by the number of postings warning of the highly invasive nature of porcelain berry. The word is spreading, but perhaps not as fast as the vine.
Identifying a Monster
The most obvious feature of porcelain berry is the namesake fruit. Porcelain berry is a prolific seed producer. The lustrous, multicolored, speckled berries are unmistakable and look like they were formed from porcelain.
It's hard to ignore the colorful display of shiny berries cascading down drooping vines. Birds also find them attractive as a late-season food item, and they can poop out vining offspring over a wide area.
Leaves are opposite on the stem; however, their shapes can vary widely. Some are nearly round to broadly ovate, looking similar to wild grape.
Others are deeply lobed and resemble mulberry (Morus spp.). The variegated variety, 'Elegans', has also escaped into the wild and has mulberry-like leaves.
Porcelain berry has male and female flowers on the same plant (monecious). The light green flowers are described as being inconspicuous. However, nectar collects in the cup-like flowers, making them highly attractive to honey bees (Apis mellifera), and other pollinators.
Porcelain berry shares many traits with other members of the grape family, and its vigorous vining may cause it to be mistaken for wild grapes (Vitis spp.). In fact, both are commonly found growing together, which I believe allows porcelain berry to fly below our radar until it's unmasked by its namesake berries. Even then, the ruse may continue with "porcelain grape plant" being another common name you will find applied to porcelain berry.
However, the flowers and fruits of our native grapes are borne on long tapering panicles that hang down from the stem. Porcelain berry plants bear their flowers and berries on upturned panicles with multiple points. The panicles point upward even on stems that droop downward. Also, the grape stem bark peels or shreds, and the center of the stems is brown. Porcelain berry bark does not peel or shred, and the center of the stems is white.
Porcelain berry may also be mistaken for peppervine (Nekemias arborea) and heartleaf peppervine (A. cordata), and vice versa. Both belong to the grape family and are native to the southeastern U.S. According to iNaturalist, both have also been found in Ohio. It doesn’t help that porcelain berry is sometimes called “amur peppervine.”
Slaying a Formidable Monster
It’s critical to identify and eliminate porcelain berry before it becomes established. Once established, removal from landscapes and natural areas is a multi-year process. That’s because new plants will continue to rise from the roots, and the berries remain viable for years.
Hand-pulling or cutting the vines from early spring throughout the summer before flowers produce new fruit will help to reduce the porcelain berry “seed bank.” However, it will not address the problem of plants growing from the roots. It’s unlikely the entire root system can be removed by hand-pulling, and new plants can grow from root fragments.
Eradication requires removing the vines, coupled with the judicious use of systemic herbicides that will kill the roots. Unfortunately, there are no selective post-emergent herbicides that will eliminate porcelain berry that is growing through or over woody plants without also damaging the victim.
Non-selective post-emergent herbicides can be highly effective but present some challenges. For example, using glyphosate or triclopyr amine to target the foliage on regrowth after hand-pulling or cutting will slowly destroy the root system, but multiple applications may be required. Also, there’s a risk of producing phytotoxicity with applying triclopyr over the root systems of woody plants.
Applying concentrated glyphosate to the ends of cut stems immediately after making the cuts may be more effective. However, this approach is best accomplished on large stems. Applicators may be faced with multiple tiny stems rising from the ground.
Basal bark applications of triclopyr ester have proven highly effective in eliminating porcelain berry in both landscapes and natural areas. However, there are a few caveats. First, triclopyr amine is not effective, and triclopyr ester must be mixed with a basal oil product formulated to aid in herbicide bark penetration. Second, it is helpful to use a spray colorant to guide the application.
Of course, as with using any pesticide, reading and following label directions is not only the law, but following the label recommendations saves money by maximizing efficacy while minimizing environmental impacts and other unintended consequences. This is particularly important with herbicide applications in terms of not damaging non-target plants. To paraphrase an old axiom, the cure should not be worse than the disease.
