Carolina Moonseed (Cocculus carolinus)

Wow! That's quite a vine! It looks so lush and just full of berries. A comment on the PDB says it's a Missouri native, but I've never noticed it around here. Great picture.

It grows as a wild native vine here and requires no care and little water. I found this one growing on a fence in the neighborhood where my deceased grandmother used to live. I had been hunting for a good example of the vine. Many people kill them because without a support on which to grow, they will smother other plants. It took me some time to find its name. It is one of my favorites because the berries are so beautiful in late summer and fall with varying colors as they ripen into a deep red. If you saw the other photo, you noted that you can see through the skin when the berries are ripe which gives them a glow when the light shines through them. At this stage, they remind me of tiny Christmas tree lights. Thanks for your comments.

I am so glad you posted this picture. I have been trying to get a good look at Carolina moonseed. I found a red berried vine in the woods that I assumed was CMS. The berries are red-not round,but are oval shaped. The leaves are the same shape and marks. It must be a variation of this vine.
Thanks,
Flicker
Covington, La. z8b

I am glad that this photo was useful to you. Are the ripe berries on the plant you are trying to identify full of juice or are they hard?

The red berries are hard with yellow pulp. No juice. I have read that the seed looks like a snail when removed from the berry. Those I found in the woods do not.
Flicker

The Carolina Moonseed berries when ripe are juicy. The berries at the top right of this photo are ripe and you can see through the skin. They squash easily when ripe. I will keep searching for your vine in order to assist you in your search for its identity, I know how hard it can be. I just located the name of a plant I have been spending hour upon hour for a month trying to identify .

Do birds eat these berries?

Great shot of the berries. This is not what I found. Here is a pic of it in the woods. It was at the edge of a thickly treed piece of land. I have looked in field guides of my area and the surrounding counties. No luck.

Iowagal, birds love the berries. It is listed in many references pertainng to creating a wildscape or backyard habitat as being a great snack for many types of berry loving birds such as mockingbirds, cardinals and white-throated sparrows. Humans should not try eating it. It contains alkaloid compounds which are very bitter and can cause gastric distress, but it has not been known for causing fatalities. The bluish-black berries of Canada Moonseed has been known to have caused fatalities. Canada Moonseed is found in much of North Carolina and the border counties of South Carolina.

Flicker, thanks for the photo. Nope, yours is not Carolina Moonseed. Now that I have a visual, it will be easier to search for it. I have a couple of ideas, but I need to check them out.

I have found my vine! It is smilax pumila-sarsaparilla vine. I was at a native plant meeting and showed pieces of the vine to a botanist.
Thanks for your support,
flicker

Great! I had been searching for it for a while for you. At least we were in the right plant family.

Htop,
I would love to get a couple of pieces of your vine in the spring. I'm sure I'll have a few things to trade.
Thanks.

Flicker, I'll make a note of it and send you some. Please email me your address so I can file it.

This message was edited Sunday, Nov 23rd 5:41 PM

Flicker, was it windy there today too? I gathered some dried berries today from this vine. There were not a lot of fully dried ones, but a lot of squashy ones. I'll send you some if you want them.