变叶胡椒 bian ye hu jiao

Climbers glabrous except for rachis, dioecious. Stems slender, finely ridged. Petiole 5-12 mm; leaf blades toward base of stem ovate to narrowly elliptic, 5-6 × 4.5-5 cm, thinly papery, base cordate, usually symmetric, apex acute to acuminate; veins 5(-7), apical pair arising 0-6 mm above base, reaching leaf apex, others basal; reticulate veins abaxially ± prominent, glandular; leaf blades toward apex of stem 5-9 × 2-3.5 cm, base rounded or cuneate. Spikes leaf-opposed, yellow. Male spikes 3-5 cm × ca. 2 mm; peduncle 1-2 cm, slender; rachis pilose, hairs very pale pinkish brown; bracts ovate-oblong, 2-2.2 × ca. 1 mm, adnate to rachis, margin free. Stamens 2 or 3; anthers subglobose. Female spikes 1.5-2.5 cm, 3-3.5 cm in fruit; peduncle as in male spikes; rachis villous; bracts sometimes slightly shorter than in male spikes. Ovary distinct; stigmas 3 or 4, linear. Drupe ellipsoid-globose, 4-6 × 3-4 mm, smooth, base slightly shrunken. Fl. Jun-Aug.

Slopes, in thickets along streams; 400-600 m. Guangdong, Guangxi [N Vietnam]

Named for the variability of the leaves, although this is not so marked in the Chinese material.