Chocolate vine (Akebia quinata), also known as five-leaf chocolate vine or five-leaf akebia, is a vigorous, invasive perennial vine. Originally from eastern Asia, it was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant in 1845. This invasive can grow up to 40 feet in a single season, is shade-tolerant, and forms dense mats that kill native understory plants and prevents native seeds from germinating and growing. The vines also climb small trees and shrubs, smothering them. While still in the early stages of its invasive spread in the U.S., read on to learn how to identify this invasive—and how to aid efforts to eradicate it by reporting any sightings. 

Identification 

Chocolate vine starts out as a green vine but becomes woody with age. It is deciduous in the north, but evergreen in warmer climates and has palmately compound leaves with up to five leaflets. Chocolate vine has small purple, red, pink or white flowers in mid-spring, and sometimes produces purple seed pods with white fleshy pulp and small black seeds. 

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Spread 

Chocolate vine is primarily dispersed by humans, who plant it as an ornamental in their gardens. It spreads through vegetative growth from its roots—it is not currently known if the vine also spreads through birds eating and dropping the seeds. Chocolate vine has been spotted in some parts of Pennsylvania and can be found in scattered places throughout the eastern United States from Michigan to Georgia.  

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Control  

Chocolate vine is still in the early stages of its invasive spread in the United States, so it is considered a Class A noxious weed. The PA Department of Agriculture is heading the effort to completely eradicate the vine in Pennsylvania. If you spot chocolate vine, reporting it is an important way that you can help prevent its spread. There are several ways to report invasive species in Pennsylvania: call in a voicemail report to 1-833-INVASIV, email the Department of Agriculture at  [email protected], or use the  PA iMap Invasives database.  

Small areas of chocolate vine can be removed by repeatedly cutting the vine at the base throughout the growing season, and unwrapping growth from trees and shrubs. You can also dig them up, removing as much of the root as you can. 

Large areas of chocolate vine can be treated with systemic herbicides like glyphosate or triclopyr when the air temperature is between 50 and 85 °F.  A 20% triclopyr and basal oil solution can be applied to the exposed stem, a 25% water and herbicide solution can be applied to a freshly cut stump, or a 2 to 5% water and herbicide solution can be sprayed on the leaves. It will most likely need to be treated multiple times. 

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Native Alternatives 

When removing invasive plants, it is important to plant natives in their place. If you are looking for native vines, Dutchman's pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla), coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) are great options that benefit pollinators.  

Dutchman’s pipevine is a larval host for the pipevine swallowtail butterfly. Coral honeysuckle’s flowers attract hummingbirds and pollinators, and the fruits attract birds such as quail and goldfinches. Coral honeysuckle is also a larval host for the spring azure butterfly and the snowberry clearwing moth. Virginia creeper attracts birds and is a larval host for four different species of sphinx moth. 

References

•    Bugwood Image Database System
•    Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Report an Invasive Species
•    Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
•    North Carolina State Extension: Akebia Quinata
•    PA DCNR: Invasive Plant Fact Sheets: Chocolate Vine