西南菝葜 xi nan ba qia

Vines climbing, unarmed. Stem laxly branched terete, rather slender, 2--5 m, woody. Petiole 5--20 cm, narrowly winged for ca. 1/4 its length; abscission zone subapical; tendrils well developed. Leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 7--15 × 1--5 cm. Inflorescence borne in axil of leaf or scalelike bract, of 1 umbel, basally not prophyllate; peduncle slender, 1.5--5 cm; umbels of both sexes 7--17-flowered, base slightly thickened, 1--2 mm in diam. Male flowers: tepals purplish red or greenish yellow, 2.5--3 × ca. 1 mm. Female flowers: tepals ca. 2.2 × 0.8 mm; staminodes 3. Berries blue-black, globose, 8--10 mm in diam. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Oct--Nov.

Forests, thickets; 800--2900 m. S Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [India, Myanmar].