Grapevine--What Actually Did We Swing on As Kids?

Factual Questions
1

As a child growing up in southeastern Kentucky, we would often find these long vines which descended from the branches of trees, cut them off near the ground and swing on them, ala Tarzan. We always called these “grapevines,” though they did not produce grapes. Didn’t produce anything, actually. Most would be from an inch in diameter up to three or four inches.

Eventually they would tear loose from the supporting tree branches and some kid would have a nice fall and banged up knees – luckily, no worse that I saw.

They were not kudzu – we were also very familiar with that pesky menace.

Anybody have any idea what genus they actually were?

Sir Rhosis

2

Virgina Creeper?

3

Thanks, but I don’t know. That sounds more like a flower-producing weed of some type. The “vine” I speak of was totally inflexible, hard as a tree, and produced no flowers (though what we found could have been dead specimens of whatever it was). It did not bend or give as we swung on it, it simply traveled forward, then back in an arc.

Sir Rhosis

4

It climbs trees all the time, and can become immense. I not saying it is what you used, just that it gets big enough to use that way.

Why don’t you look up climbing vines and Kentucky to see what is there. Look at the pictures to identify it.

5

summer grape? http://faculty.etsu.edu/mcdowelt/2003_0527\summergrape.JPG