酸蔹藤 suan lian teng

Lianas, woody. Branchlets terete, with longitudinal ridges, densely tomentose with white hairs; tendrils bifurcate. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole 2.5-4 cm; central petiolule absent to 5 mm, lateral petiolule very short, with white arachnoid tomentum, or lateral leaflets sessile; leaflets abaxially with dense white and arachnoid tomentum, adaxially with sparse arachnoid tomentum, lateral veins 4 or 5 pairs, veinlets inconspicuous; central leaflet oval or rhombic, sometimes cleft or divided, 3-6 × 2-3 cm, base cuneate, margin with 5-14 rounded and obtuse teeth on each side, apex acute or acuminate; lateral leaflets oval, 2-5.5 cm, base highly asymmetric, margin with 5-11 rounded and obtuse teeth, apex acute or obtuse. Compound dichasium leaf-opposed, with a tendril at base; peduncle 6-7 cm, with dense, white, arachnoid tomentum. Pedicel 1-2 mm, glabrous. Buds globose, 1.5-2 mm, apex rounded. Calyx saucer-shaped, glabrous, undulately lobed. Petals narrowly oval, 1.4-1.8 mm, glabrous. Anthers oval, nearly quadrate. Disk obvious, undulately lobed. Lower part of ovary adnate to disk, oval; style conical, ca. 10 ridges; stigma slightly expanded. Berry globose, 7-8 mm in diam., 2- or 3-seeded. Seeds oblong, base rostrate, apex subrounded, chalazal knot suborbicular. Fl. Jun, fr. Aug.

● Forests, shrublands; 1600-1800 m. Sichuan, Yunnan.