This plant prefers to grow in wooded areas, on woodland borders, and in fencerows, where its attractive foliage has room to climb and bask in the sun. The plant itself is often confused for poison ivy, but its stems do not attach with tendrils and therefore does not have the same climbing habit. The youngest leaves have a reddish tint, making this plant relatively easy to identify by its reddish-bronze early growth that turns green with age. Furthermore, it grows clusters of berries that turn from green to pink to magenta to black. They are ripe when they turn black, doing so between late August and September. The edible part of the plant is the ripe berries, which can either be cooked or fermented into wine. The berries themselves have a grape-like flavor, which makes sense considering the grape is a close relative. The berries can be eaten raw, but one should exercise caution, as some people report throat irritation or stomach upset after eating too many, so it is best to limit raw berries to small servings until you know how they affect you individually. This is primarily due to calcium oxalate crystals which the plant uses as a defense mechanism as these can irritate the throat. They are very small, however, and cooking the berries reduces the concentration. This means that they are excellent specimens for making jams, jellies, tarts, pies, and other desserts. It is a wonder that more people aren’t aware of their edibility considering how abundant these berries are later in the year. If the crystals worry you, simply squeeze the fruits in a cheese cloth and collect the juice. Then place the container with this juice in the fridge to allow the remaining crystals to settle to the bottom. Then carefully pour the top part of the juice into another container and discard the remainder which will contain the heavier calcium oxalate crystals. This juice tastes very similar to grape juice and can also be used to make a very grape-like jelly or even turned into wine.
Not much has been studied regarding medicinal uses of the peppervine, but some chemical constituents of the berries have medicinal applications. One forager noted she would only eat between five to ten berries at one time, but that they contain large quantities of dihydromyricetin, also known as ampelopsin, which is also present in elderberries and is purported to be effective in combating various flu viruses. This same substance has also been noted to work as a hangover or alcohol poisoning treatment and has been used as an ingredient of ‘vine tea’ in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
So, remember to try and eat one wild food every day! If you have any questions or comments or ideas for wild food articles or recipes, please email [email protected].