Parthenocissus Inserta
Thicket Creeper
Family: Vitaceae
Large, deciduous vine climbing 25’ high and wide. This plant can climb most substrates, even flat walls. Flowers are insignificant. In the fall, foliage turns red. Dormancy is brief in the low desert. This plant can also grow like a ground cover in shady areas.
Plant in shady spots. Morning sun is acceptible but avoid reflective heat, especially as found on south and west-facing walls. These plants need regular water. Hardy to at least 0°F.
Larval host for the grapeleaf skeletonizer (Harrisina americana). In other regions there are sphinx moth species that use this plant as a larval host. Fruits are eaten by birds. Flowers are insect pollinated. Honeybees are an important pollinator.
Though there is a history of use of the fruits, it is not recommended. The twigs are used medicinally as teas, and the foliage is used externally in poultices.
Parthenocissus comes from Greek words parthenos, a virgin, and kissos, ivy; inserta is fromfrom in- + serō (“join, bind together, connect, entwine, interweave”) referring probably to the adhesive discs the plant climbs with.
This taxon is considered to be native to the Southwest. It is staggeringly similar to Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), a vine which is native to the eastern US, in cultivation, and considered to be introduced in the West. But there are consistent morphological differences in the inflorescence and tendrils. Native throughout North America (excluding a good portion of the southeastern United States) and adjacent Mexico in moist canyons, woods and thickets, from 3,000-7,000 ft.
Parthenocissus hybrid
Hacienda Creeper
While the native thicket creeper (Parthenocissus inserta) is rare in the trade, the hacienda creeper is more common. The hacienda creeper is very similar in traits but its leaves are smaller and thinner. It was originally discovered in a hacienda garden in Mexico, and is believed to be a cultivar of either P. quinquefolia or P. tricuspidata, or it could be a hybrid. There has been no conclusion as to its identity.
This plant has essentially the same requirements, and has been a great performer in landscapes in the southwest.