American Groundnut (Apios americana) is a perennial ground cover-like vine growing 1-6 meters with both edible beans and tasty and nutritious tubers. It may be a surprise to most Americans that it is commonly cultivated as a source of food, just not often in America. A staple of Native American diets, it seems to have disappeared in modern America due to a lack of domestication. It is, of course, still consumed by foraging Americans, and attempts to domesticate have been made. And while there is some debate about how the groundnut made its way to Japan, it has been grown and consumed there for over a century. Make sure to cook the tubers should you decide to try any.
As a larval host plant, the American groundnut is used by the Juvenal’s Dusky Wing, Long-tailed Skipper, Silver-spotted Skipper, Southern Cloudy Wing.
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apios_americana
https://www.eealliance.org/assets/Documents/MAG/gwfhostplants.pdf
USDA Plant Profiles
Photo Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33859606 – Adam Peterson
Purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is a beautiful and quick-growing vine as well as one of the three state flowers of Tennessee. As the distribution map demonstrates, it is more of a southern plant, so as an edible of the northeast, it is not completely honest, just barely eking out a little qualifying space. Regardless, the fruit of the passionflower is a well-liked fresh fruit or in jams and jellies. It is also believed to have many medicinal properties, especially as a sedative, so caution should be taken when on medication or pregnant/nursing. Purple passionflower is also known to be very important as a host species for many caterpillars including the zebra longwing, the crimson-patched longwing, the Julia, the Plebian sphinx, the variegated fritillary, and six other species (11 total). Also, passionflowers are the only hosts for the Gulf fritillary. The fruit, of course, also makes a nice meal for wildlife, and the flowers are loved by pollinators. So if you want a beautiful flower on a vine that produces a popular fruit, try the purple passionflower.
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_incarnata
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
USDA Plant Profiles
Photo Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49608282 – Realtube
American grapes (Vitis spp.) grow wild and cultivated, readily climbing a tree or trellis, but without destructively choking anything like the invasive Porcelain berry does. There are many species of grapes native to the northeast as well as other parts of the US. The fruit is tasty for us, but also very beneficial for migrating birds. The pipevine swallowtail moth, various sphinx moths, and many others also find wild grapes to be a great host plant. As with many other plants, grapes can be susceptible to deer browse.
When checking for caterpillar host capabilities, I used Vitis labrusca, a common species that is one of the original species of many widely-used cultivars. This had 9 caterpillars that used it as a host plant.
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitis
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
Photo Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12687768 – midiman
Creeping dogwood (Cornus canadensis) is a slow-growing creeping perennial vine native to a large swath of the northern hemisphere including parts of both North America and Asia. It does not grow very tall (10-20 cm) and spreads out through the rhizomes forming a mat. Thus, as a “vine” it is not very exciting and not always defined as such, but it is happy in the shade and will make a ground cover with edible berries. That said, the seeds are hard and crunchy and not for everyone, but from what I read they have a good flavor. This plant is also host to 19 different caterpillar species and the fruit is eaten by wildlife who then spread the seeds.
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_canadensis
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
USDA Plant Profiles
Photo Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33490869 – JohnHarvey; derivative: Peter coxhead
Greenbriar (Smilax spp.) is a common genus found all over the world. The one pictured above is Common greenbriar (Smilax rotundifolia). However, it appears that all smilax are edible, and not just that, but every part of them. Eat the starchy roots, eat the leaves, eat the shoots, and eat the berries. I spent some time looking up the toxicity and edibility of various native species and found nothing. Then I came across this post on wildflower.org: “The Botanical Dermatology Database lists the only possible injury from any Smilax species as being a mechanical injury from the thorns.”
Regarding Common greenbriar, it is a vine that uses tendrils to climb other plants, often becoming a tangled mess. Essentially, it is not a very attractive plant in the formal garden sense, but produces a lot of green and a lot of food. Smilax rotundifolia is also host to 13 different caterpillar species and the fruit is a valuable food source for other wildlife.
Note: I did find one source that said smilax can be flammable, so be careful.
Further Reading:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
http://temperate.theferns.info/plant/Smilax+tamnoides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smilax_rotundifolia
USDA Plant Profiles
Photo Credit
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6856854 – Fepup