Parthenocissus tricuspidata is a species of flowering plant in the grape family (Vitaceae) native to eastern Asia (Korea, Japan, and northern and eastern China), where it thrives in floodplain bushes, riverside woodland and moist mountain mixed forests. Although unrelated to true ivy, it is commonly known as Boston ivy, grape ivy, Japanese ivy, and also as Japanese creeper, and by the name woodbine (though the latter may refer to a number of different vine species).
The specific epithet tricuspidata means three-pointed, referring to the leaf shape. Boston ivy is readily distinguished from the Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) by its simple leaves with pointed lobes (Virginia creeper leaves are divided into five separate leaflets).
It is a deciduous woody vine growing to 30 m tall or more given suitable support, attaching itself by means of numerous small branched tendrils tipped with sticky disks. The leaves are simple, palmately lobed with three lobes, occasionally unlobed or with five lobes, or sufficiently deeply lobed to be palmately compound with (usually) three leaflets; the leaves range from 5 to 22 cm across. The upper side of the leaf blade is shiny and bare, the underside is dull green and only has sparse hairs on the leaf veins. The leaf color is initially reddish green to bronze during budding, then orange-yellow to intense scarlet in autumn. Stipules are present.
The greenish flowers are inconspicuous, greenish, in clusters; the inedible fruit is a small dark blue grape 5âÂÂ10 mm diameter. The cup-shaped calyx is truncated. The hood-shaped petals are laid back. There are short stamens. The two-chambered, lobed ovary with a short style and capitate stigma is superior. There is a discus (circular fused anthers).
P. tricuspidata uses adhesive pads to attach to surfaces, allowing it to climb vertically up trees, walls, and other structures. Contact with a surface signals the adhesive pads to secrete mucilage through microscopic pores which dries and creates a robust adhesive bond. The ability of a single adhesive pad to support thousands of times their weight may be explored as a model for new biomimetic materials. In its native range, the vine has traditional medicinal uses (China, Korea) and as a culinary sweetener (Japan).
Both within and outside of East Asia, the plant is primarily used as an ornamental plant. Cultivars include 'Veitchii'. Like the related Virginia creeper, P. tricuspidata is widely grown to cover the façades of masonry buildings. This usage is actually economically important because, by shading walls during the summer, it can significantly reduce cooling costs. While it does not penetrate the building surface but merely attaches to it, nevertheless surface damage (such as paint scar) can occur from attempting to rip the plant from the wall.
In the U.S., Boston ivy is used on the brick outfield walls at Wrigley Field of baseball's Chicago Cubs along with Japanese bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus).
Parthenocissus is derived from the Greek terms (; "maidenly, chaste, virgin") and (; "vine") and means approximately "virgin ivy" (hence the common name of the related "Virginia creeper"). Tricuspidata, meaning approximately "with three points", comes from the Greek and Latin prefix ("three") and the Latin ("tipped, pointed").
In Mandarin Chinese, the plant goes by a number of names, most commonly páqiánghà(, lit. "wall-climbing tiger"), but also páshÃÂnhà(, lit. "mountain-climbing tiger", also refers to Hedera helix), dìjÃÂn (, lit. "earth brocade", the name used in the Compendium of Materia Medica and the common name in Taiwan), tÃÂgÃÂténg (, lit. "dirt drum vine") and hóng pútáo téng (, lit. "red grapevine").
In Taiwanese Hokkien, the vine also has several names, including chhiÃȉ¿-piah-tîn (, lit. "wall vine"), peh-soaâ¿-hóà(, lit. "mountain-climbing tiger"), âng-koah (, lit. "red vine"), thôÃÂ-kóÃÂ-tîn ( lit. "dirt drum vine", a cognate with the Mandarin) and âng-kut-chôa (, lit. "red-boned snake", a name that refers to at least five other plants as well).
In Korean, the plant is called damjaeng'ideonggul () in reference to it growing on walls. In contexts of Korean traditional medicine, it is known as jigeum (/, a cognate with the Mandarin Chinese dìjÃÂn from the Compendium of Materia Medica, as well as other names such as nakseok (/), jangchundeung (/), pasanho (/), naman (/) and yongninbyeongnyeo (/).
In Japanese, the vine is known usually as tsuta (; ), but also as amazura (; ), lit. "sweet vine" natsuzuta (; ), or rarely jinishiki (; ).
In Okinawan, the vine is called cita (; ), while in the Taiwanese indigenous language Paiwan it is tiyaroromao.