Ampelopsis, commonly known as peppervine or porcelainberry, is a genus of climbing shrubs, in the grape family Vitaceae. The name is derived from the (ampelos), which means "vine". The genus was named in 1803. It is disjunctly distributed in eastern Asia and eastern North America extending to Mexico. Ampelopsis is primarily found in mountainous regions in temperate zones with some species in montane forests at mid-altitudes in subtropical to tropical regions.The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, Edited by K. Kubitzki in collaboration with C. Bayer and P.F. Stevens, Volume IX, Flowering Plants Eudicots, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007, Ampelopsis glandulosa is a popular garden plant and an invasive weed.
Species
Plants of the World Online currently includes: Ampelopsis aconitifolia Bunge Ampelopsis acutidentata W.T.Wang Ampelopsis bodinieri (H.Lév. & Vaniot) Rehder Ampelopsis chondisensis (Vassilcz. & V.N.Vassil.) Tulyag. Ampelopsis cordata Michx. – False grape, raccoon-grape, heart-leaf peppervine or heart-leaf ampelopsis Ampelopsis delavayana Planch. ex Franch. Ampelopsis denudata Planch. Ampelopsis glandulosa (Wall.) Momiy. Ampelopsis humulifolia Bunge Ampelopsis japonica (Thunb.) Makino – Japanese peppervine Ampelopsis mollifolia W.T.Wang Ampelopsis orientalis (Lam.) Planch. Ampelopsis tadshikistanica Zaprjagaeva Ampelopsis tomentosa Planch. ex Franch. Ampelopsis vitifolia (Boiss.) Planch. Ampelopsis wangii I.M.Turner
Moved to genus Nekemias Ampelopsis arborea – Peppervine is now Nekemias arborea Ampelopsis cantoniensis Ampelopsis grossedentata
Ecology Ampelopsis species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Bucculatrix quinquenotella and Sphecodina abbottii. Dihydromyricetin, which is an effective ingredient in supplements and other tonics, is extracted from the ampelopsin tree.
Fossil record Fossil seeds from the early Miocene of Ampelopsis ludwigii and Ampelopsis rotundata, have been found in the Czech part of the Zittau Basin. Acta Palaeobotanica - 43(1): 9-49, January 2003 - Early Miocene carpological material from the Czech part of the Zittau Basin - Vasilis Teodoridis The fossil species Ampelopsis malvaeformis was rather common in northern Italy in the early and middle Pliocene but seems to disappear at the middle and late Pliocene boundary.The role of central Italy as a centre of refuge for thermophilous plants in the late Cenozoic, Edoardo Martinetto, Acta Palaeobotan. 41(2): 299-319, 2001
References
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