Cissus

Vines, herbaceous. Branchlets terete, with longitudinal ridges, usually glaucous, glabrous; tendrils bifurcate. Leaves simple; stipules brownish, oblong, 5-6 × 2-3 mm, membranous, glabrous; petiole 2.5-7 cm, glabrous; leaf blade cordate-oval, 5-13 × 4-9 cm, glabrous, basal veins 3-5, lateral veins 3 or 4 pairs, veinlets inconspicuous, base cordate, margin with 9-12 sharp teeth on each side, apex acute or acuminate. Inflorescence umbelliform, terminal or leaf-opposed; peduncle 1-3 cm, glabrous. Pedicel 2-4 mm, nearly glabrous. Buds oval, ca. 4 mm, apex obtuse. Calyx entire or undulate. Petals triangular-ovate, ca. 3 mm, glabrous. Anthers ovoid-elliptic. Lower part of ovary adnate to disk; style conical; stigma slightly expanded. Berry 0.8-1.2 cm × 4-8 mm, 1-seeded. Seed surface smooth, with sparse ribs. Fl. Jul-Oct, fr. Nov-May of following year. 2n = 22, 24.

Himalaya (Nepal to Bhutan), India, Malaysia.

Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Taiwan, Yunnan [Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia].

300-1100 m

Forests in valleys, shrublands on hillsides; 100-1800 m.

Cissus cordata Roxburgh; C. glauca Roxburgh; C. repens var. sinensis Handel-Mazzetti; Vitis repens (Lamarck) Wight & Arnott.

Cissus repens is a species of tropical rainforest vine in the grape family. It is found in various parts of Asia including Malaysia. This vine is recorded as far south as Cape York Peninsula and the wet tropics region of north eastern Queensland, Australia. It has heart shaped leaves, near them on the stem is the tendril. The specific epithet repens is from the Latin, meaning “creeping”.