Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Wednesday - November 12, 2014
From: Sand Springs, OK
Region: Southwest
Topic: Vines
Title: Is there a simple way to
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
Is there a relatively simple way to "guess" how old wild grapevine is?ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants has never tried to do this,but wild grape vine is a woody plant, and as such produces annual growth rings in the trunks, canes, and cordons. One can determine the age of the plant by counting the rings in a cross section of the stem which would, of course, entail cutting the stem. I’m not sure why you are interested in knowing the age of the grape vine, but cutting it is probably not what you had in mind.
Foresters are able to determine the age of trees by using a device called an increment borer. I suppose that there is a minimum size branch on which one can use the increment borer. This link to USDA tells about counting the growth rings. Since you are interested in simple, and a guess, all of the above may be to complicated for you.
Do you have other comparable sized wild grape vines that you could perhaps cut, count the rings, and and compare with the vine in question? Or could you cut a branch further along the main trunk and count the rings. This could tell you that the vine is “at least this old”.
For help closer to home, you might contact the folks at the Tulsa County OSU Extension Service .
More Vines Questions
How to get rid of invasive wild bean vine
July 27, 2008 - An invasive vine has taken over our beds, mostly wherever we have asiatic jasmine ground cover. We seem to be the only people nearby with this problem, and the volunteers with our local master gardene...
view the full question and answer
Identification of vine with green flowers
May 23, 2012 - Trying to identify a vine with 5-petaled ~1 cm dia green flowers (w/ barely perceptible white & black speckles). I have 3 photos I can send (showing flowers & leaves).
The flower petals are almost...
view the full question and answer
Vine for complete shade in California
December 21, 2012 - I'm looking for a vine to put over my back door which is in complete shade.
view the full question and answer
Plant identification for vine in Georgia
April 26, 2010 - A wild vine is taking over our cypress tree. Cypress tree is in our yard beside the fence. Very thick woods behind our fence. Leafs, on vine, resemble small maple leafs. It has orange flower balls....
view the full question and answer
Plant identification of a potted vine in California
October 04, 2011 - Hi, we have a tropical vine growing in a pot on our patio that my wife bought at the county fair. We've had it for a couple of years but I just noticed it now has a sort of pear like fruit on it. It ...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |