About vines

.
Vascular Plants of the Gorge at
Buttermilk Falls State Park (Ithaca, NY)

** Plant Finder **
.

.Home

Start Over

.About Vines

Got it! I already read this. Go to vine key now.

Vines are plants that either grow along the ground ("trailing") or grow upward by climbing on top of various objects, like fences, poles or other plants. At least when young, the stems of vines are weak and need to climb onto other objects for support. Eventually, as they mature and gain strength, they may develop tough, fibrous or woody stems.

Most of the vines growing in the surveyed area (the vicinity of the gorge) have stems that are at least somewhat woody. One of them, "hog peanut", is herbaceous (never develops woody stems). But, others, like oriental bittersweet or river-bank grape, have mature stems that are largely woody. They are typically perennials.

Some of our vines are invasive or extremely aggressive, spreading outward along the ground, covering almost all other plants in their paths, including shrubs, or climbing high, covering entire trees.

Hog peanut ( Amphicarpaea bracteata ) will be covered in the key to wildflowers because it is non-woody.