Bay Starvine , a native to the Piedmont and coast of North Carolina, is a climbing, perennial, flowering vine in the star-vine family that sprawls or twines over shrubs or high up in the canopy of trees in woodland areas, bluffs and streambanks. At maturity, it can spread 65 feet or more. It has showy orange flowers in spring and summer and rarely seen red fruits (they are difficult to spot being so high up). It is the only American species of this typically Asian genus. Bay Starvine grows best in moist, well drained, rich soils in partial shade. It can tolerate less than 2 hours of sun a day. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests. This native is highly threatened by non-native plants like Japanese Honeysuckle and is listed as a critically imperiled species in North Carolina.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt)
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Alkaline (>8.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist | Occasional Flooding
NC region
Coastal; Piedmont
Canopy layer
6 - Vine (vertical)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Climbing; Spreading
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Cordate; Elliptical; Obovate
Leaf margin
Dentate; Entire
Leaf feel
Smooth
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, 3-6 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Elliptical-ovate to heart-shaped leaves with entire to slightly dentate margins are 1 to 6 inches long and 1/2 to 4 inches wide. Yellow fall foliage.
Fall color
Gold/Yellow
Flower color
Gold/Yellow; Green; Orange
Flower value
Showy
Flower detail
Separate male and female flowers appear late spring to early summer. Five fleshy dark orange tepals surrounded by 5 yellow-green tepals. The flowers dangle on long stalks from the leaf axils. In North Carolina, the flowers bloom from May to June.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit color
Red/Burgundy
Fruit type
Berry
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
Bright red mature aggregated berries. Red-brown seeds. Fruits from July to August in North Carolina.
Bark color
Dark Brown; Dark Gray
Bark detail
Flaking dark gray brown becoming dark brown.
Stem color
Brown/Copper
Stem detail
Young stems pale brown, smooth. Older stems up to 1/12/ inches in diameter.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Southeastern United States and Mexico
Distribution
North Carolina south to Florida, west to Louisiana, and north to Kentucky, northern and central Mexico.