Content
- Wild Wine - Can the fruits of the Jungfernrebe be used?
- Wild Wine Berries are slightly poisonous
- Danger of confusion with berries of grapevine
- Wild wine is pure ornamental plant
- Tips
The fruits of the wild wine are slightly poisonous
Wild Wine - Can the fruits of the Jungfernrebe be used?
Especially on older buildings, but also on walls, pergolas, sheds and fences, the wild wine is often seen. Here the diligent and very lush awake climbing plant hides unsightly, bleak facades and walls and beautifies many construction mistakes. Wild wine (Parthenocissus) is very similar in appearance to the vine (Vitis vinifera) and often produces small, black berries in autumn. However similar the plant may be to the true grapevine, its fruits are not edible for humans.
Wild Wine Berries are slightly poisonous
In June / July, the wild wine blooms with rather inconspicuous, greenish-white umbels, which develop into pea-sized, spherical and bluish-black berries until October - which coincides with the autumn coloration. Visually, this ensemble is very nice to look at, besides, the fruits are very popular with many birds. However, the berries are inedible to humans, even slightly toxic: Not only the whole plant including the leaves and shoots, but especially the fruits contain a lot of oxalic acid. This can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in children, susceptible persons and animals.
Danger of confusion with berries of grapevine
Despite the name similarity, the wild wine should not be confused with the grapevine and its edible fruit - the grapes. Although both species belong to the family of the grapevine family (Vitaceae), but belong to different genera and are therefore only very widely related. While the wild wine belongs to the genus of maiden vines (Parthenocissus), the noble vine is classified in the genus of vines (Vitis).
Wild wine is pure ornamental plant
Furthermore, no healing uses of wild wine are known, neither from the folk medicine of earlier centuries nor from the present day. From this it can be concluded that the wild wine is a pure ornamental plant and is not suitable for any kind of recovery - unless you include the use of its fruits as a very popular bird food.
Tips
If you are looking for a beautiful climbing plant whose fruits you can eat, the noble vine (Vitis vinifera subsp. Vinifera) - a subspecies of the grapevine - is the right choice for you.