连蕊藤 lian rui teng

Herbaceous vines. Stems and branches striate, usually puberulent, sometimes subglabrous. Petiole usually equal to or shorter than lamina, rarely longer; leaf blade broadly ovate or oblong-ovate, 8-16(-25) × 5.5-9(-15) cm, papery or membranous when dry, abaxially densely pannose-tomentose, adaxially sparsely puberulent or sometimes subglabrous, base sagittate, lobes mucronate or rounded, margin sparsely serrate to dentate, rarely entire, apex long acuminate, palmately 5-7-veined, veins slightly prominent abaxially. Inflorescences solitary or sometimes paired, corymbose, tomentose. Male flowers: sepals ovate-rounded, rotund, or elliptic-ovate, 1.7-2 mm, puberulent abaxially; petals obovate-cuneate, ca. 1.3 mm; synandrium ca. 1 mm. Female flowers: sepals 4 in 2 whorls, outer whorl cuneate-oblong, 2.2-2.5 × 1.3-1.5 mm, apex subtruncate or slightly rounded, inner whorl subovate, base concave or saccate; petals 4, opposite to sepals, oblong, ca. 1.7 mm; staminodes linear, flat, ca. 1 mm; carpels 3, saccate-ovate, ca. 1.3 mm, stigma recurved. Drupes subglobose and slightly flattened, ca. 8 mm or longer; endocarp ovate-semiglobose, with prominent crest abaxially and 2 rows of spines on each surface. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Aug-Sep.

Forest margins, shrublands. NW and S Guangxi (Longlin), S Guizhou (Anlong), S Xizang, SE and W Yunnan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, NE India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam].