Also known as common moonseed vine or Canada moonseed, moonseed vine is a deciduous,
Typically grown as a twining vine on a support structure. May be grown along the ground as a ground cover (infrequently done for ornamental reasons) in woodland areas, cottage gardens or naturalized areas. Also helps prevent soil erosion on banks.
Menispermum canadense, commonly called common moonseed or Canada moonseed, is a dioecious, scrambling, twining (no tendrils), woody vine featuring (a) rounded to shallowly-lobed, alternate, peltate, long-petioled leaves, (b) tangled green stems that become woody with age, (c) somewhat inconspicuous greenish-white flowers that bloom in late spring and (d) drooping clusters on female plants of grape-like fruits (poisonous to humans) which ripen to black in fall. This vine will typically grow to 8-20′ long when twining its way through shrubs, lower tree branches, hedgerows or other types of vegetation. Where no support structures are available, it will spread an indefinite length along the ground forming a dense ground cover rising to 12″ tall. It is native to woods, thickets, hillsides, bluffs and along streams from Quebec to Manitoba south to Nebraska, Arkansas and Georgia.