Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Rosales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Berchemia scandens
FAMILY
Rhamnaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Supplejack at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Berchemia scandens climbs high into the crowns of swamp trees. Its smooth gray bark on larger vines (often marred by sapsucker wells) is distinctive even when the leaves are high overhead; vines can be at least 18 cm in diameter. Younger twigs are bright green (or reddish tinted if sungrown), and the neatly pinnate venation is also distinctive, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Berchemia scandens
FAMILY
Rhamnaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Berchemia scandens
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Berchemia scandens
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 119-01-001:
Berchemia scandens FAMILY Rhamnaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Berchemia scandens
COMMON NAME:
Carolina Supplejack, American Rattan, Rattan-vine, Alabama Supplejack
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_besc_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_besc_003_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm100508_028
May Charleston County SC
Drayton Hall
)
JK Marlow s090716_080
July Georgetown County SC
Huntington Beach State Park
A woody climbing vine with alternate, oval to elliptic-lanceolate leaves, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).
)
Bobby Hattaway rah_berchemia_scandens
August? AR
Lateral veins nearly straight, evenly spaced and parallel, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).
)
Sharleen Johnson shj_5656144931169450
December Charleston County SC
Francis Marion National Forest
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Berchemia scandens
FAMILY
Rhamnaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Berchemia scandens
FAMILY
Rhamnaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Berchemia scandens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Berchemia scandens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 119-01-001:
Berchemia scandens
FAMILY
Rhamnaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Berchemia scandens
2620
Climbing woody vine
Perennial
Apparently dioecious
Habitat: swamp forests, bottomlands, streambanks, also upland in mesic to even xeric forests, woodlands, glades, and prairies over calcareous rock or sediment, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
Greenish
5-merous
5-toothed calyx
5 petals
5 stamens
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Blue-black
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p266
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p452
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p180
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p091
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p122
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p074
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