Bushkiller Bushkiller

Vitis japonica Thunberg in J. A. Murray, Syst. Veg. ed. 14, 244. 1784; Fl. Jap., 104. 1784; Cayratia japonica (Thunberg) Gagnepain; Cissus japonica (Thunberg) Willdenow; Columella japonica (Thunberg) Merrill

Branchlets usually purplish. Leaves: petiole slightly shorter to ± equaling blade; blade triangular-ovate in outline; leaflets (3–)5, lateral short-petiolulate, terminal long-petiolulate, leaflets narrowly ovate to oblong, 1–14.5 × 0.5–4.5 cm, terminal larger than lateral, base cuneate to rounded, margins crenate to crenate-serrate, apex usually acute or short-acuminate, sometimes obtuse to rounded, surfaces glabrous or abaxial puberulent. Flowers green to yellowish green. Berries globose, 8–12 mm diam. 2n = 40, 60.

Flowering late May–Jun; fruiting Aug–Sep. Forest edges and openings, pastures, waste areas; 0–300 m; introduced; Ala., La., Miss., N.C., Tex.; e, se Asia, Australia.

Causonis japonica was first reported naturalized in Louisiana in the 1960s (L. H. Shinners 1964). It has since escaped from cultivation elsewhere and become naturalized in scattered places in the southeastern United States.