Virginia Creeper

Scientific Names

Parthenocissus quinquefolia L.
Vitis quinquefolia. L.
Grape family

Common Names

American ivy
False grape
Five leaves
Wild woodbine
Woodbine
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Parts Usually Used

Root, leaves, bark and twigs
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Climbing or creeping vine with adhesive disks on much-branched tendrils. Ascending to 50 to 100 ft. mostly by means of its radiating tendrils supporting itself firmly on trees, stone walls, churches, etc. This is a woody vine of the grape family, with smooth leaves and many leaflets. Leaves divided into 5 leaflets; elliptical to oval, sharply toothed. Small greenish or white flowers in terminal groups; June. Bark and twigs are collected after the small dark berries have ripened. Has a persistent acrid taste; not unpleasant.
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Where Found

Thickets, weedy. Maine to Florida; Texas to Kansas, Minnesota.
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Medicinal Properties

Astringent, diuretic, tonic
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Uses

Native Americans used plant tea for jaundice; root tea for gonorrhea, scrofula, dropsy, bronchitis, pneumonia, cholera, diarrhea. Leaf tea used to wash swellings and poison-sumac rash; mixed with vinegar for wounds and lockjaw; astringent and diuretic.
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How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine & Crafts, by Frances Densmore, Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984