Edible (or not) wild grapes, moonseed or something else?

Wondering if there are any amateur or professional botanists here who can help confirm the plant we have growing along our fence in our backyard. It seems like it might be edible wild grapes given the leaf shape, clusters and tendrils (apparently moonseed looks very similar except for the tendrils) but we of course don’t want to take any risks. Thoughts?

theoperadiva

in Garden 9 years and 9 months ago

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theoperadiva | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Cool – thanks a lot! I’ll check that out.

honeycut | 9 years and 9 months ago

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There’s a fantastic app called Garden Compass staffed by horticulturalists that will let you upload photos for either Plant IDs or Pest issues. They respond within 24 hours or less typically or will send you an alert that they are backed up. I’ve used them many many times and they are quite accurate! Its a free app, with a cretain amount of free credits to get answers then I believe they’ve become more popular so they charge a fee after that. But I have to say they are awesome – sometimes I’m gardening and find interesting volunteer plants I can’t recall planting years before and they ID them, they’ve identified invasive weeds for me and instructed me on how to manage them, and sometimes I’ve walked around Brooklyn and noticed a cool plant in someone’s yard that I wanted to know what it was – they were great!

marie-helene | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Thanks! Yes, Boston ivy is for the birds (literally). Also, some people are allergic to the oxalate crystals in the sap of the Virginia creeper, and you don’t want to find out the hard way. If you decide to trim it, do wear gloves. If the cucumber vine (the one with the tender triangular leaves and the tendrils) comes on your side, I think it’s OK to enjoy the fruits.

theoperadiva | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Marie-helene, I think you are officially the winner! Having looked at a few other photos, it is definitely Boston Ivy. Since the fruit is toxic, I’m glad I asked. That’s interesting about the squash (I presume that’s the tendril plant?) – our neighbors planted some this year and it looks like it is making its way to our yard as well. And yes, we have been fighting the japanese knotweed since we bought our house a few years ago. The garden was basically 5 feet high and 10 feet thick with it and slowly but surely, we are nearly done with it on our side. If only our neighbors behind would be as vigilant, we might eradicate it altogether! Thanks everyone – appreciate you taking the time to look.

marie-helene | 9 years and 9 months ago

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You have quite a few things going on: 3rd picture from the top: Boston ivy (the large shiny leaves with tiny grape clusters), and Virginia creeper (the small shiny leaves in the background); 1st picture: some form of squash (my bet is cucumber) in the foreground, wisteria growing through the chainlink, and the dreaded Japanese knotweed behind the fence. Middle picture: more of the cucumber vine fighting it out with Boston ivy, Virginia creeper in the background, and a green cricket chilling.

Arkady | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Looks more like something in the gourd family to me.

catboot | 9 years and 9 months ago

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The leaves look a bit shiny to be grape.

thetinkerswagon | 9 years and 9 months ago

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hey there Ms. Opera Diva: they look like grapes. wait until they grow a little and see if the birds eat them. we have a grape vine here that our neighbor gave us and I have had a race with the birds every year to get the ripening grapes off the vine (I have gotten so tired of this battle that I have given up). If this plant were in my yard and I saw the birds eating the fruit, I would try one to see if they were grapes. and it may not be “wild”; these things seem pretty hardy and ours comes back year after year with no help. Steve