This is an extremely fast growing vine. New stems are slender but stiff enough to stand erect if they sprout on the top side of a mother vine. Once vertical, forked tendrils are produced opposite the leaves that grasp anything they encounter in a grip of steel. Seedlings are easy to recognize and had best be pulled immediately. They are not easily pulled, even at the one leaf stage.
Young stems are smooth and greenish tan, turning darker with age as the bark roughens.
Older vines have a very rough, exfoliating bark on the aerial portions, while the ground rooting sections are smooth, almost polished in appearance. They are attractive leaves, really, but deadly because they cast such deep shade over tree canopies that they kill the trees in time. The mass of vines in a tree crown also acts as a sail in high winds, toppling mature trees. The seedling's root system shows the developing thick major root, broken off when I pulled it. I've become expert in grubbing out grapevines this summer and observed some interesting differences in their roots.