Plant ID from Descriptions Flashcards
Tagetes
Annual. Strongly aromatic. Daisy and carnation-like, sometimes double. Fern-like foliage.
Form: Erect and bushy.
Foliage: Usually opposite, pinnatifid to pinnate, with conspicuous glands.
Flower: Produced singly or in cyme-like clusters. Colors yellows, oranges, sometimes orange-red
Bloom period: Late spring to autumn.
Osmunda
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial. Dimorphic fronds; green sterile fronds and showy golden fertile pinnae in fall caused by large masses of sporangia.
Form: Terrestrial, vase shaped.
Foliage: Deciduous, pinnate or bipinnate fronds, broadly lance shaped to triangular-ovate to ovate.
Echinacea purpurea
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial found in moist prairies, meadows and woodland clearings in E & C United States
Form: Clumping habit. Fibrous roots. 2’-4’ erect, stiff plant by 1’-2’ wide, with attractive daisy like flowers.
Foliage: Alternate. Lower leaves ovate to broadly lanceolate, coarsely toothed and on long petioles (petioles are usually winged). Upper leaves narrower, sessile. Leaves and round stems are covered with short, rough hairs.
Flower: Solitary heads to 3” wide. Drooping ray flowers, rose to rose-violet or white. Disc flowers appear in an orange-brown, cone-shaped head. Seed head is attractive in fall and early winter. Some cultivars are fragrant. 30”-36” tall.
Bloom period: Summer
Impatiens (New Guinea Group)
Bushy, mounding or upright annual
Foliage: Whorls of 3-7 leaflets, oval to elliptic, 2”-4” long. Dark green, bronze or variegated, some with dark red veins.
Flower: Large, flattened, 5-petaled colorful flowers in shades of red, pink, orange, purple and white. The flowers are complete, with a hooded, fused anther covering the pistil that is shed before female parts mature.
Bloom period: May to October
Liriope spicata
D/E: Evergreen
Form: Grass - like perennial, underground rhizomes form mats, not clumps. Arching so that plant height is less than 1’. A large planting has a graceful, billowing surface. Moderate to fast growth rate.
Foliage: Strap-like, flat, 1/4” wide to 18” long, glossy, medium green, light tan base, 7-11 nerves. The leaves arise from many creeping rhizomes rather than from distinct clumps as in Liriope muscari.
Flower: Small, pale lilac to almost white, on slender spikes shorter than the leaves. Spikes have 5-12 loose whorls of 2”-4 1/8” flowers per pedicel.
Fruit: Shiny black, berry-like, 1/8” diameter, fall, persist to winter.
Bloom period: Summer
Heuchera villosa
D/E: Broadleaf Evergreen
Form: Softly hairy stems with soft foliage mound 1’-2’ tall and large, airy, long lasting, delicate panicles of flowers to 3’. Herbaceous, semi-evergreen perennial.
Foliage: Light green, softly hairy, oval or rounded, cordate leaves 4”-6” long, about 2’ high. Semi-evergreen. Leaves, on long petioles, have triangular lobes and dentate margins. Leaves vary in the size and sharpness of their lobes and how hairy they are.
Stems: Thick, branching crown.
Flower: Many small (1/4”) cream-colored flowers on showy, long, airy, unbranched panicles on a 3’ tall softly hairy flower stalk.
Bloom period: mid to late summer
Begonia
Fleshy annual
Form: Upright
Foliage: alternate and asymetrical
Stems: fleshy, often hairy
Flower: Monecious, usually red, pink, white, or yellow-orange and born in pendulous clusters. Can be double.
Bloom Period: Fall and Summer
Lonicera sempervirens
D/E: Broadleaf Evergreen
Form: Climbing vine.
Foliage: Opposite, simple leaves that are rounded, elliptical or ovate in shape, blue/green above and glaucous beneath sometimes pubescent, new growth is usually red/purple.
Stems: Twisted, straw colored glabrous.
Flower: Blooms on old wood, tubular corolla that ranges in color from orange red to red inside flower generally yellow to yellow-orange, grows in whorls with 4 to 6 flowers per whorl, 5 lobed corolla unlike other honeysuckles that have two lips, perfect flowers with little to no fragrance.
Bloom period: Summer - Fall
Vinca minor
D/E: Evergreen
Form: Perennial, prostrate, creeping stems, 6”-8” tall. Forms a mat, does not climb; roots form at nodes. Spreads indefinitely. This cultivar may have a stronger clumping habit.
Foliage: Leathery, opposite, shiny, pointed oval to 1 1/2” long. Thin, wiry stems that exude a milky sap.
Flower: Blue flowers, solitary, axillary, showy and cheerful.
Fruit: Follicles, not ornamental.
Bloom period: Spring
Chrysanthemum (Rubellum Group)
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial
Form: Mounded plants, spreading by rhizomes. Branching stems, 24”-36” tall by 2’-3’ wide. May become woody at the base. Divided foliage and abundant daisy-like flowers in fall.
Foliage: Dark-green, alternate. Deeply divided into 5 lobes and may be coarsely toothed. Lower leaves to 4” long. Leaves smaller, less lobed and toothed as they ascend the stem. Somewhat hairy leaves and stems. Aromatic when touched.
Flower: 1 to 5 flower heads in a loose cluster. Flower heads 2”-3” across. Disc flowers yellow. Ray flowers white, cream, pink, rose, rose-red or lavender. Fragrant.
Bloom period: Variable bloom time, depending on weather, pinching. Late August, September, October.
Campsis radicans
D/E: Deciduous
Form: Aggressive clinging vine, deciduous, suckers.
Foliage: Opposite, pinnately compound, 6”-15” in length with 7-11 leaflets (short petiolules), leaflets are up to 4” long and 1/4” to 2” wide, angularly toothed, apex is long and acuminate, lustrous deep green above, pubescent beneath especially on veins, yellow to yellow-green in the fall.
Stems: Tan to light brown, with aerial rootlets between nodes. Bud: Sits on top of leaf scar
Flower: On new wood, with trumpet-like corolla, perfect, 2 1/2”-3” long, 1 1/2” wide at mouth with triangular teeth, borne on terminal cymes with 4 to 12 flowers, color range varies from orange to deep red.
Fruit: Long capsule 3”-5” long by 3/4” wide, seeds are flattened and have two transparent wings.
Bougainvillea hybrids
D/E: Broadleaf Evergreen; Deciduous
Approximately 14 species of climbing, vining, scrambling, and sometimes thorny shrubs grown for their colorful bracts and small tubular flowers. Best grown under glass or as a container annual in our region.
Form: Climbing and vining shrub.
Foliage: Alternate, ovate, entire, thin and with pointed tips.
Stems: Protected by long narrow thorns near the leaf axils.
Flower: Small, tubular flowers are usually white and encased by 3-6 large colorful bracts borne in large terminal and axillary clusters. Bracts may be pink, purple, orange, red, yellow, or white and may be double.
Bloom period: Will flower year round in equatorial regions.
Miscanthus sinensis
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial
Form: Clump, upright-arching.
Foliage: Up to 1” wide and 36”-48” tall, medium green with a prominent white midrib. Emerges in late March to early April. Unimpressive fall color, fading to tan by December, but still upright.
Flower: Commonly opening to a reddish cast, others may appear silver. All are very ornamental, fading to a buff color in autumn.
Bloom period: Commonly appearing by early September, but varies by cultivar, ranging from July to October.
Solenostemon scutellarioides
Tender woody plant, handled as a tender warm-season annual. Dies with the first frost.
Extremely sensitive to cold.
Form: mound to upright bush, depending on cultivar.
Foliage: Opposite. Shape, size, colors and margin depend on cultivar. Leaf surface may be velvety or rough. Usual colors are white, cream, yellow, chartreuse, green, bronze, violet, red, rose or any combination. Highly variable plants.
Flower: Interrupted spikes of small lavender-blue flowers in false whorls
Bloom Period: Largely used for foliage
Pachysandra terminalis
D/E: Evergreen
Form: Decumbent groundcover.
Foliage: Alternate and simple with dentate margins. Obovate with attenuate bases. Leaves are clustered at the tips of stems.
Stems: Greenish in color and glabrous.
Flower: Terminal and lacking petals.
Fruit: Berry-like drupe that is whitish in color and 1/2” long. Not all plantings produce fruit.
Ipomoea batatas
Tuberous tender perennial (annual in the northeast) climber with leaves that are either cordate, lobed or entire.
Form: Weaving, climbing vine or groundcover. Tends to be thuggish in a mixed planting.
Leaves: Colors range from near black to copper to purple to chartreuse; 2”-4” across, cordate, entire, or lobed.
Flower: Flowers are rare - tubuar in shape, lavender to pale purple.
Parthenocissus quinquefolia
D/E: Deciduous
Form: Woody, vine that attaches by means of tendrils that have 5-8 branches with adhesive terminal discs. Forms a very thick covering flat to the surface on which it grows. Not a strong clinging plant, and side branches droop away gracefully. Often found as a groundcover.
Foliage: Deciduous, alternate, palmately compound, composed of 3-7 leaflets. Leaflets elliptic to obovate, 1 1/2”-4” long and 1/2”-2” wide, apex acuminate, coarsely serrate on the margin. The petiole is 1”-4” long. Lustrous dark green above, pubescent on veins beneath. New growth is bronze to red. In the fall the leaves turn purple to crimson. One of the best vines for fall color, and one of the first woody plants to show fall color.
Flower: Inconspicuous; grow under the leaf in small greenish-white clusters. Flowers can be perfect or imperfect, and are pollinated by small insects.
Fruit: Numerous blue-black berries that stay hidden under the leaf until fall; borne in clusters and about the size of a pea.
Bloom period: Spring and summer
Hedera helix
D/E: Evergreen
Form: A climbing vine. All Hederas have two distinct growth phases, juvenile and adult. The sterile, juvenile form produces adventitious roots that allow the climbing stems to anchor to vertical structures. Adult branches extend away from the juvenile form’s supports and do not produce adventitious roots. In the shrub form, it flowers and fruits.
Foliage: Flowering, adult branches have unlobed leaves that are ovate to rhombic in shape. Older shoots and leaves are glaborous.
Flower: Small, bisexual greenish white to cream flowers occur in globose umbels. Only matures and produces flowers when it begins to grow vertically. Attractive to bees and flies.
Bloom period: September-October
Aquilegia canadensis
D/E: Deciduous
Form: Herbaceous Perennial from short, stout rootstock, with mounded foliage and erect flower stalks.
Foliage: Both biternate basal leaves and alternate ternate leaves on slender, much branched stems. Those leaves at base and lower stem are large with long primary and secondary stalks, but become much reduced upward. The small leaflets, in threes, are more or less oval with rounded lobes. Soft green leaves with grey-green undersides.
Stems: Slender, sparingly branched, green to reddish-green.
Flower: Showy, spurred, 1”-2” long; nodding at the tips of slender branches. Five tubular, red petals with yellow lips alternate with five flat, reddish sepals; numerous yellow stamens project downward well beyond the petals and sepals. Distinctive petals extend backward into long hollow straight spurs.
Blooming period: late April through May, prolonged flowering season if in shady location.
Petunia × hybrida
Tender perennial handled as a half-hardy annual.
Form: 6”-15” tall mound or trailing to 2’ or more. “Weaver” plant or spreading and cascading.
Foliage: Mostly alternate, broadly ovate, to 3” long. Surfaces of leaves and stems covered with sticky hairs.
Flower: 1”-4” long, 5-lobed funnel-shaped flowers. Many cultivars are fragrant. Corolla is pleated in bud with a 5-parted calyx. Colors are white, yellows, pinks, red, and purples.
Bloom period: late spring to frost.
Lantana camara
Perennial grown as half-hardy annual.
Form: Upright, shrubby and woody to 4’ tall. Low, spreading cultivars are also available.
Foliage: Dark green leaves are usually opposite to 5’ long. Margin is crenate or dentate and upper surface is rough. Stems are usually hairy; sometimes prickly. Coarse, but very attractive foliage. Foliage is fragrant when crushed.
Flower: Dense clusters of tiny 1/3” flowers form a neat, flat-topped head 2” across on long peduncles; opening yellow, orange, or pink and changing to red, orange, purple or white, often with all colors on the same flower. Very showy as colors change with maturity.
Bloom period: Summer blooming outdoors and winter blooming indoors.
Pennisetum alopecuroides
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial
Form: Clump, mounded, 24”-48” tall.
Foliage: Up to 3/8” wide and varies from 18”-36” long, nice, clean green in summer, golden in autumn.
Flower: bottlebrush, erect or nodding, dark cream laced with pink or purple.
Bloom period: Some as early as July, others as late as September
Viola × wittrockiana
Perennial grown as a hardy cool-season annual to short-lived perennial or biennial.
Form: round mound. Becomes tall and open with age and warm weather and then will weave through other plants.
Foliage: Ovate or lanceolate-elliptic, 1 1/2”-2” long, with crenate to dentate margins.
Flower: 1”-5” rounded, five-petaled flowers are deep violet (“black”), violet, white, blue, dark red-brown, rose, apricot, orange, yellow or gold, alone or in combination, usually with dark blotches or a “face.” Blooms as a small plant.
Bloom period: Blooms best in cool weather and usually dies in summer.
Pericallis × hybrida
Herbaceous annual
Form: Mounding
Foliage: Simple, rounded and broadly lance-shaped.
Stems: Upright to spreading, simple, branching.
Flower: Daisy-like, solitary or borne in in corymbs in pinks, reds, blues and whites.
Bloom period: Winter and spring
Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’
Herbaceous perennial subshrub, grown as a tender annual.
Form: Multi-stemmed, grows upright at first to then becomes loosely rounded.
Foliage: Opposite, dark-green, glossy leaves, dark burgundy to purple below. 2” long leaves are dentate and lightly curved and folded down their midline. Fine hairs cover foliage and stems. Young, yellow-green stems add contrast then mature to rich dark purple.
Flower: Masses of tubular, lavender-blue flowers flecked with dark purple are carefully arranged on 12” spikes that float above the foliage
Bloom period: Midsummer to frost.
Rudbeckia hirta
D/E: Deciduous
Form: Annual / biennial / short lived herbaceous perennial wildflower. Emerges from a central cluster or basal rosette of leaves. Selected cultivars are very short while others are tall and sturdy and don’t require staking.
Foliage: Leaves are finely toothed to serrate and are covered with hairs; ovate to ovatelanceolate; basal leaves are broader than upper leaves; 3”-7” long and 1”-3” wide.
Stems: Stiff, upright, and hairy. Somewhat branching.
Flower: Composite 3’ wide flowerheads resemble daisies or sunflowers; ray flowers are bright orange-yellow and disk flowers are brown. Disk flowers are arranged in a dome-shaped pattern. Plants die after flowering. Cut flowers can be long-lasting in water. Some cultivars and varieties have flame red to brown centers and other color variations.
Bloom period: Summer through fall
Hemerocallis
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial
Form: Clump. Foliage mound 8”-30” tall. Flowers on stalks above leaves, scapes may be 10”-48”. (Dwarf plants have scapes up to 12” tall.)
Foliage: Basal keeled linear leaves, 1/2”-1 1/2” wide, 1’-2’ long, depending on cultivar. Dormant foliage stops growing in cold weather, evergreen foliage continues to try to grow. Leaves may not be attractive after flowering.
Flower: As many as 30 per scape, 1-12 scapes per plant. Fragrance varies. Each flower lasts one day (some cultivars have flowers that stay open longer). All colors (except pure white and blue), may be deep or pastel, and solid, two-toned or zoned. In form, they may be like a funnel or flattened like a shallow bowl, plain or ruffled. There are a few doubles.
Bloom period: Summer. Most have one heavy bloom season of 2-3 weeks and may have slight rebloom in fall. Some cultivars begin to bloom in spring and rebloom off and on into October.
Pelargonium x hortorum
Tender perennial handled as a warm-season tender annual.
Form: rounded mound, size depending on cultivar.
Foliage: Opposite, round to kidney-shaped, cordate, margins scalloped and crenate-toothed; often with a horseshoe-shaped, dark red zone on the leaf blade. Zonation is variable (depending on parentage and night temperatures) and some cultivars have variegated leaves. Aromatic when brushed or crushed.
Flower: Densely-flowered umbels (2”-4” wide) of five-petaled flowers that may be single, semi-double, or double held on upright flower stalks. Colors can be all colors except blue, violet, blue-violet or yellow. Flowers can be bicolored, eyed or speckled. Much variation in flower form.
Bloom period: Blooms continuously early summer to light frost.
Salvia
Tall and bushy annual
Foliage: Semi-hairy and most times fragrant. Great variation in the leaf shape and texture but typically opposite & decussate.
Flower: 2-lipped, the upper lips erect and hooded, the lower ones 2-toothes and more spreading. Born in panicles or in axillary whorls on erect stems. Colors: Pink, Purple/Lavender, Red/Burgundy, White
Bloom Period: Spring-Fall
Perovskia atriplicifolia
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial. Tall spires of small, lavender flowers born on square stems above fragrant gray-green foliage and a “woody” base.
Foliage: Finely-dissected, aromatic, gray-green leaves.
Stems: Square, upright, woody at base.
Flower: Whorls of two-lipped, tubular, lavender flowers tiered in branched, terminal panicles 12”-15” in height.
Bloom period: Summer
Calibrachoa
Tender perennial grown as a half-hardy annual. Heat and humidity tolerant.
Form: Prostrate, low-growing, trailing.
Foliage: Broadly ovate leaves on mostly alternate stems. Margins entire. Surfaces of leaves and stems covered with sticky hairs.
Flower: Miniature, 1” wide, funnel-shaped flowers. Very floriferous.
Bloom period: Late spring to frost
Wisteria frutescens
D/E: Deciduous
Form: Woody vine, twining counter-clockwise.
Foliage: Alternate, odd-pinnately compound, 9-15 leaflets that are elliptic, 1 1/2”-2” long by 1 1/4” wide. Bright green above and pubescent beneath.
Flower: Flowers are nearly 1” long, pale lilac with yellow eye at the base of the standard, borne in racemes 2”-5” long. They have slight fragrance.
Fruit: Pods 2’-4” long and velvety.
Bloom period: Main bloom occurs May into June; may rebloom sporadically throughout summer and fall.
Bignonia capreolata
D/E: Broadleaf Evergreen; Semi-evergreen
Form: Self-clinging vine, climbs by clinging to supports by means of 3-parted tendrils, which arise where 2 leaflets join. At the tip of the tendril are very small discs, which creep into crevices. The tips of the tendrils swell and wedge themselves in tightly. It grows flat against its support.
Foliage: Opposite, deciduous, and semi-evergreen (southern climates), 2 leaflets per stalk. Leaflets oblong to ovate, 2”-6” long by 2” wide, glossy green above, turning to purple in the fall. The margin is entire.
Stems: When a cross section is taken of the woody stem there is a crosslike pattern of pith in the center, hence the common name.
Flower: 2-5 flowers appear in cymes in the leaf axils. The flowers are funnel form, 1”-2” long. Most commonly the flowers are orange or orange-red outside and somewhat lighter inside. They remain attractive for 3 to 4 weeks. Interesting fragrance.
Bloom period: Late spring
Hylotelephium
D/E: Deciduous
Clump-forming perennial with glaucus, fleshy, and succulent-like leaves that can range from pale gray-green to purple, are often whorled or alternate, growing from unbranched, upright and slightly speading stems up to 18” tall.
Form: Clump forming, upright.
Foliage: Rounded, ovate, succulent, slightly scalloped toothed, from gray to green to blue to purple depending on selection.
Stems: Unbranched, upright to spreading.
Flower: Red to pink to white, small, star-shaped flowers with prominent stamens born in dense, flat cymes.
Bloom period: Midsummer to fall
Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial
Form: Bushy habit about 24” tall and wide. Gray foliage. Racemes of lavender flowers on arching stems.
Foliage: Fragrant. Opposite, gray-green, ovate, cordate at base, densely tomentose. Prominent veins, bluntly toothed. Good all season.
Flower: Lavender clusters rising in well separated tiers up the stem (racemes)
Bloom period: mid-May through June and into early July.
Iris × germanica
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial. Rhizomes at rootstocks close to or on surface. Strap-shape leaves that are nearly always in basil fans. Flowers are large with prominent beard.
Form: Upright
Foliage: Sword shaped fans; broad.
Stems: Smooth
Flower: Simple and branched. Flower colors from white, pink, yellow and blue. Some can also be bi-colored.
Bloom period: Early spring-summer
Gelsemium sempervirens
D/E: Broadleaf Evergreen; Semi-evergreen
Form: Evergreen woody vine that climbs by twining its wiry stems. does not typically form a thick woody trunk.
Foliage: Opposite, simple, 1”-3 3/4” long, evergreen, and entire; leaves lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate or elliptic with an acute to acuminate tip and rounded to cuneate base.
Foliage is lustrous green in summer and may become yellow-green to purple-green in winter.
Flower: Yellow, funnel-shaped with 5 lobes, fragrant, and solitary or in 1 1/2” long cymes. Flowering is dependent on the severity of winter in our region. This plant can be damaged by winter temperatures. Flowers on old growth.
Fruit: Compressed capsule with a short beak, 1 1/2”long, and brown.
Buds: Loosely aggregated pairs of non-descript scales.
Stems: Wiry, glabrous stems that are green in youth, becoming red/brown with age.
Bloom period: April
Zinnia
Perennial in frost-free climates, usually grown as annuals elsewhere.
Form: Usually found as solitary, long stemmed flowers in bright colors.
Foliage: Foliage is opposite and usually sessile (stalkless), Linear to ovate, pale to medium green.
Stems: Usually single and erect, occasionally branching and creeping
Flower: Single rows of petals to fully double forms. Colors range from white to chartreuse, yellow, orange, red, orange, purple and lilac.
Bloom period: Blooms from mid-summer until first frost.
Hosta
D/E: Deciduous
Herbaceous perennial
Form: Long-lived, reliable plants with often dramatic foliage and attractive and sometimes fragrant flowers. The range is enormous from 3’ high clumps of beefy foliage to tiny tufts 6” high. Clump forming.
Foliage: Ovate to lanceolate with entire margins, leaves vary tremendously in size and range in color from dark green, blue, yellow, and cream variegated, some with wavy margins, puckered spots, distinct veins or shiny surfaces.
Flower: Erect thick scapes emerge above foliage . Trumpet-shaped flowers in a range of colors from lavender to white. May be small or large and waxy. Usually not fragrant.
Bloom period: mid to late summer
Helleborus × hybridus
D/E: Broadleaf Evergreen
Herbaceous perennial
Form: Rounded clumps of course textured, dark foliage, 18”-24” tall and wide.
Foliage: Shiny, dark green, evergreen basal leaves to over 16” wide, palmately divided into 7-9 leaflets each segment elliptic to oblong with sharply serrated margins.
Flower: Several nodding flowers per stalk, each to 3” wide. All colors except true blue. Color fades with age. Sepal remains attached and adds interest as seed pod forms.
Bloom period: Bloom usually begins in March.
Ajuga reptans
D/E: Broadleaf Evergreen; Semi-evergreen
Form: Herbaceous perennial groundcover, 3”-6” tall, dense mat. Spreads by stolons.
Foliage: Deciduous to semi-evergreen; entire, in rosettes arising from stolons, about 2” long and 1” wide; green in the species, or purple, bronze, or variegated in cultivars.
Flower: Very showy vivid dark blue in the species, purple, pink or white in cultivars.
Bloom period: Spring
Verbena × hybrida
Annual
Form: Erect and procumbent.
Foliage: Ovate to oblong. 2”-4” long. Rough, toothed, mid to dark green.
Stems: Square
Flower: spike inflorescence, each flower with a tubular corolla spreading at the mouth and slightly 2-lipped with 2 upper petals and 3 lower ones. Colors Blue, Gold/Yellow, Pink, Variegated, White
Bloom period: Spring - Fall
Clematis
D/E: Broadleaf Evergreen; Deciduous
Form: Semi-evergreen vine.
Foliage: Opposite and ternately to pinnately compound. Leaflets are ovate, acute, cordate with entire margins. Tendrils present.
Stems: Slender and light brown in color. Six primary ridges present.
Bloom period: Spring - fall
Flower: Perfect, large flowers that have anthocyanin pigments.
Fruit: Large, pubescent and resembles an old man’s beard. Achene, that is 1”-2” long.
Ficus pumila
D/E: Evergreen
Form: Root-clinging, perennial vine.
Foliage: Juvenile foliage 1/4”-2” long; mature foliage 3”-6”.
Stems: Green and thin when young, gray and thick when older.
Flower: Insignificant
Fruit: Ovoid-pear-shaped, mostly solitary, densely hairy to 2 1/2”, green ripening to purple, seldom in a container.
Parthenocissus tricuspidata
D/E: Deciduous
Form: Woody vine, attaching by means of 5-12-branched tendrils with adhesive discs at the ends. As it grows, the larger stems develop aerial roots which will hold it more firmly to the surface. It is much more branching and broadly spreading than Parthenocissus quinquefolia. Forms a very tight, dense wall.
Foliage: Alternate, broadly ovate, 4”-8” wide with 3 pronounced lobes that are acuminate at the apex and roughly serrated. Glossy dark green above, and finely pubescent on the veins beneath. When the leaves are young, they are smaller and almost entire. In the fall the leaves turn a brilliant scarlet-crimson. The leaves overlap like shingles, forming a dense covering.
Flower: Not of ornamental value.
Fruit: The blue-black berries are small.
