Thicket Creeper

Appearance

''Parthenocissus inserta'' is a climbing and sprawling woody vine , reaching lengths of 20 m, using small branched tendrils with twining tips. The leaves are palmately compound, composed of five leaflets, each leaflet reaching 13 cm in length and 7 cm broad. The leaflets have a coarsely toothed margin.

The flowers are small and greenish, produced in clusters in late spring, and mature in late summer or early fall into small blue-black berries. These berries contain oxalates and the plant may cause dermatitis.

''Parthenocissus inserta'' is closely related to and commonly confused with ''Parthenocissus quinquefolia'' . They differ in their means of climbing, with the tendrils twining around plant stems in ''P. inserta'' lacking the round, adhesive discs found on the tendril tips of ''P. quinquefolia'', though the ends may be club-shaped when inserted into a crevice. One consequence of this is that it cannot climb smooth walls, only through shrubs and trees. In addition, the leaflets of ''P. inserta'' are shiny when young and only slightly pale below, while those of ''P. quinquefolia'' are dull above and pale green, whitened, or glaucous below. ''P. inserta'' flowerhead branching is dichotomous or trichotomous, with branches of equal thickness, while ''P. quinquefolia'' branches unequally, with a definite central axis. The berries of ''P. inserta'' are larger, at 8–12 mm in diameter, versus 5–8 mm broad in ''P. quinquefolia''. The petiolules of mature ''P. inserta'' leaflets are typically longer, at 5–30 mm long, versus sessile or up to 10 mm in ''P. quinquefolia''.

Habitat

The flowers of thicket creeper are frequently visited by ''Mordella marginata'', a tumbling flower beetle. Several bee species have been observed collecting pollen from the flowers, including the sweat bees ''Augochlora pura'', ''Lasioglossum subviridatum'', and ''Lasioglossum zephyrum''. The fruits are eaten by birds.