Ampelopsis, commonly known as peppervine[1] or porcelainberry,[1] is a genus of climbing shrubs, in the grape family Vitaceae. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek: ἅμπελος (ampelos), which means “vine”.[2] The genus was named in 1803. It is disjunctly distributed in eastern Asia and eastern North America extending to Mexico. Ampelopsis is primarily found in mountainous regions in temperate zones with some species in montane forests at mid-altitudes in subtropical to tropical regions.[3] Ampelopsis glandulosa is a popular garden plant and an invasive weed.
Ampelopsis species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Bucculatrix quinquenotella and Sphecodina abbottii.
Fossil seeds from the early Miocene of Ampelopsis ludwigii and Ampelopsis rotundata, have been found in the Czech part of the Zittau Basin. [18] The fossil species Ampelopsis malvaeformis was rather common in northern Italy in the early and middle Pliocene but seems to disappear at the middle and late Pliocene boundary.[19]
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