Periploca sepium
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- per-RY-ploh-kuh SERP-ee-um
- This plant has medium severity poison characteristics.
- See below
- Description
-
Chines silk vine is a deciduous, climbing, flowering vine or shrub that is native to eastern Russia and China. It is an ornamental plant with dark green, shiny leaves and attractive purple flowers. The flowers give off a strong scent that some find offensive. It is a climbing plant that can reach a length of 6 to 10 feet and twines around other plants as it spreads.
Chinese silk vine is a hardy plant that does best in moist, fertile soil, sited in full sun. It will tolerate clay, but does not do well in the shade. Plants do not normally require pruning, but if you do prune, note that flowers are borne on new wood and prune in early spring.
The fruit and sap are poisonous and it would be well to wear gloves and wash hands after handling. Cold spells can cause die back and the vine may need some support to spread.
Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems:
No known diseases or insect pests.
- See this plant in the following landscape :
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- Tags:
-
-
Attributes:
- Genus:
- Periploca
- Species:
- sepium
- Family:
- Apocynaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Woody
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Seed
- Stem Cutting
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Eastern Russia and China
- Distribution:
- Mongolia and Tibet.
- Climbing Method:
- Twining
- Edibility:
- The fruit and sap are poisonous.
-
-
Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Shrub
- Vine
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Ascending
- Climbing
- Spreading
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Texture:
- Coarse
-
-
Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Alkaline (>8.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Moist
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
-
-
Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Fruit Length:
- > 3 inches
- Fruit Width:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- Seed-pods in connected pairs, cylindrical, tapering at the end. 4 to 6 in. long. Seeds furnished with a tuft of silky white hairs.
-
-
Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Green
- Purple/Lavender
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Cyme
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Fragrant
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Summer
- Flower Shape:
- Star
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Dark purple flowers outside and greenish inside that bloom in late summer. The flowers have a strong scent that is offensive to some, but not to others. Flowers are 3/4 of an inch wide and bloom two to nine together in axillary and terminal cymes. Corolla is five-lobed and woolly towards the margin.
-
-
Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Smooth
- Leaf Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Opposite
- Leaf Shape:
- Lanceolate
- Ovate
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Width:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Leaves lanceolate to narrowly oval, mostly slender and pointed, tapered at the base, 4 inches long, 1 1/4 inches wide, shining green, glabrous on both surfaces.
-
-
Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
-
-
Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Woodland
- Design Feature:
- Border
- Problems:
- Malodorous
