| Parthenocissus tricuspidata | ||||||||||||||
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 Foliage on a cultivated plant
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| Parthenocissus tricuspidata (Siebold & Zucc.) Planch. |
Parthenocissus tricuspidata (also known as Japanese creeper, Boston ivy, Grape ivy, or Japanese ivy) is a flowering plant in the grape family (Vitaceae) native to eastern Asia in Japan, Korea, and northern and eastern China.
It is a deciduous woody vine growing to 30 m tall or more given suitable support, attaching itself by means of numerous small branched tendrils tipped with sticky disks. The leaves are simple, palmately lobed with three lobes, occasionally unlobed or with five lobes, or sufficiently deeply lobed to be palmately compound with (usually) three leaflets; the leaves range from 5-22 cm across. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish, in clusters; the fruit is a small dark blue grape 5-10 mm diameter.
Cultivation and uses
Like the related Virginia creeper, it is widely grown as a climbing ornamental plant to cover the façades of masonry buildings. Its use for this in Boston, Massachusetts, United States has resulted in one of the alternative names. This usage is actually economically important because, by shading walls during the summer, it can significantly reduce cooling costs.
It is readily distinguished from Virginia creeper by the simple leaves (always palmately compound with 5 leaflets in Virginia creeper). Boston ivy is well known among baseball fans as the vine growing on the outfield walls of Wrigley Field. While the plant does not penetrate the building surface but merely attaches with adhesive pads, nevertheless damage can occur from attempting to rip the plant from the wall. However, if the plant is killed first, such as by severing the vine from the root, the adhesive pads will eventually deteriorate to the point where the plant can be easily removed.
