Native Plants

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Thursday - January 02, 2014

From: Travis Peak, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification, Vines
Title: Identification of a vine with 3 leaves and a red trunk
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

What is a vine with 3 leaves that has a red trunk?

ANSWER:

Here are the two vines that I could find with three leaves and a reddish stem that grow in Travis County:

Rubus trivialis (Dewberry) has red hairs on its stem and has 3-5 leaflets per stem. Here are descriptions from Oklahoma Biological Survey and from Texas A&M Aggie Horticulture. The USDA Plants Database distribution map shows it occurring in Travis County. Here are more photos from the Image Archive of Central Texas Plants from the School of Biological Science University of Texas.

The stems on Toxicodendron radicans (Eastern poison ivy) can also be reddish or reddish-brown. Here are more photos from Image Archive of Central Texas Plants, Virginia Tech and Brandeis University. The USDA Plants Database distribution map shows it occurring in Travis County.

If neither of these is the vine you have seen and you have a photo or photos of it, please visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that will accept photos of plants for identification.

From the Image Gallery

Southern dewberry
Rubus trivialis

Eastern poison ivy
Toxicodendron radicans

Eastern poison ivy
Toxicodendron radicans ssp. verrucosum