A native we do not grow
Moonseed
Menispermum canadense. Shrub, 8 to 20 feet, zones 4 to 8; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.
We do not grow moonseed, and it is not in our shop. This page is for telling it from the natives we grow.
At a glance
| Other names | Common moonseed, Canada moonseed, Canadian moonseed, yellow parilla |
|---|---|
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 8 to 20 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 6 |
| Zones | 4 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Wildlife value, erosion control |
| Flowers | May to August |
| Fruit | Drupes, July to November |
| Pollination | Moonseed has male and female plants, and only the females bear fruit. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Toxicity | The fruit, leaves, stems, roots and flowers are poisonous to people, pets and livestock, but not to birds, which eat the fruit. |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, stream banks, rocky ground, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 34 states and the District of Columbia |
Moonseed is native in 34 states and the District of Columbia: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records.
Often mistaken for
Riverbank grape bears bluish-black fruit in clusters much like moonseed's, but its heart-shaped leaves are toothed around the edge, and its bark shreds into strips. It climbs by tendrils set opposite the leaves. Moonseed has no tendrils, and its leaf stalk joins the underside of the leaf just inside the edge.
Summer grape's leaves are pale beneath with woolly white to light brown hair, and the vine climbs by tendrils. Like other grapes, its leaves are toothed, while a moonseed leaf has no teeth. Inside, a grape holds one to four pear-shaped seeds, and a moonseed berry a single flat seed curved like a crescent moon.
Fox grape's young leaves are thickly covered beneath with long cobwebby hairs, and tendrils or flower stalks grow at three or more nodes in a row. Moonseed never has tendrils. Its leaves are smooth to thinly hairy beneath and have no teeth.
Muscadine's shiny, rounded leaves are coarsely toothed, and it climbs by simple, unforked tendrils. Its berries run half an inch to an inch across, bigger than most moonseed fruit. Moonseed has no tendrils and no teeth on its leaves.
Virginia creeper also climbs and bears clusters of bluish-black berries, but each leaf is made of five toothed leaflets spread like a hand. Its branched tendrils end in sticky pads. Its berries are poisonous too.
Handling
Every part of moonseed is poisonous if eaten, and the fruit most of all. The berries look like small wild grapes, and eating them can cause convulsions and can be fatal. Keep children, pets and livestock away from the fruit. Before eating wild grapes, cut a few berries open, since a moonseed berry holds a single flat crescent-shaped seed. Touching the plant does not cause a rash.
Read from
Its figures come from NC State Extension, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Flora of North America, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the City of Ann Arbor and Ohio State University Extension.