Herb: Pepper Vine


Latin name: Ampelopsis arborea


Family: Vitaceae (Grape Family)



Edible parts of Pepper Vine:

Fruit - raw or cooked. A poor taste. The fruit is about 8mm in diameter and contains 3 seeds. It is carried in small bunches on the plant, rather like grapes. The flesh is thin and inedible.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Evergreen
Climber

Height:
10 m
(33 feet)

Flowering:
July to
August

Habitat of the herb:

Swampy woods. Rich moist soils. Stream bottoms, fence posts and disturbed areas in Texas.

Propagation of Pepper Vine:

Seed - sow in pots in a cold frame in the autumn or stratify for 6 weeks at 5°C and sow in the spring. Germination can be quite slow, sometimes taking more than a year. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. When they are more than 20cm tall, they can be planted out into their permanent positions, preferably in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 7 - 10cm long, July/August in a frame. Cuttings or eyes in late autumn or winter. Either place them in the ground in a greenhouse or cold frame, or put them in pots. An eye cutting is where you have just one bud at the top and a short length of stem with a small part of the bark removed. These normally root well and grow away vigorously, being ready to plant into their permanent positions the following autumn. Layering into pots in late summer. Partially sever the stem in spring and then lift the new plants in the autumn.

Cultivation of the herb:

Swampy woods. Rich moist soils. Stream bottoms, fence posts and disturbed areas in Texas.

Medicinal use of Pepper Vine:

None known

Known hazards of Ampelopsis arborea:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.