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I live in the Boston area, and this vine is growing in the public land behind my property. The vine is a very aggressive grower and will overtake anything in it's path, including my fence. I've ripped out several hundred square feet of it already, but there is much more remaining. The stems were woody, reaching 1/2" - 3/4" in diameter, with several nodes anchoring to the ground. I would like to ID this plant, to help me learn how best to control it.

I've done a bit of research, and it looks somewhat like Virginia creeper, but not quite. As far as I know, it does not flower. Any help would be appreciated.
Aggressive Vine

I am adding a few pictures. The pictures I took trying to show tendril were not in focus. Only 1 was OK. I'll need to dig out my good camera for better results. Climbing vine
Leading end of vine Small portion of the area One of the bigger leaves

Here are some better pictures of the tendrils. Hopefully, there is enough detail for someone to identify. To my eye, I do not see any evidence of "disc shaped tendrils", which suggest that the vine is a false Virginia creeper. Tip of growing vine Climbing up fence tendril

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3 Answers 3

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Virginia creeper. I have this in my backyard. And I had to learn the difference between this and poison ivy as young VC vines have only 3 leaves at the growing end.

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  • Thanks for the answer. Based on some wikipedia information, VC (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is very similar to False Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus vitacea) with the only difference being their climbing tendrils. I will attempt to get a picture and post here. Maybe someone can identify further.
    – Pbaz
    May 31, 2016 at 13:30
  • Are you trying to get pics of both types of tendrils, or just the tendrils you have? I mean you have in your yard. :) That would be nice (to help everyone) to have pics of both.
    – Bulrush
    Jun 2, 2016 at 11:32
  • For reference, here are the tendrils of P. quinquefolia (climbers.lsa.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/…) vs. those of P.inserta (climbers.lsa.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/partvita.jpg). [fwiw, "integra" seems to be the valid name rather than "vitacea", but the nomenclatural history is rather ridiculously complicated]
    – Yewge
    Jun 3, 2016 at 4:18
  • [^ "integra" should "inserta" in that above comment.]
    – Yewge
    Jun 3, 2016 at 11:38
  • I've added some relatively decent pictures of the tendrils. Maybe some can recognize and ID further.
    – Pbaz
    Jun 5, 2016 at 0:18
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These vines are considered weeds. I have them all over my new backyard and am told that they are almost impossible to get rid of. I keep pulling them but they grow back just as fast. The only way is to pull out the roots and pour bleach on them. Good luck!

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Virginia Creeper. Will make you itch like poison Ivy. Steroids and an anti itch cream. I was miserable. And whoever said bleach may be on to something. Nothing else seems to kill it.

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