Vine, often climbing and hanging; stems terete to 4-gonal, sulcate to canalicu-late, glabrous except for the appressed pilose hairs on the young stems, swollen at the nodes, with sparse minutely elevated lenticels. Leaves dimorphic, the younger ones narrowly elliptic to narrowly obovate, 4-10 cm long, 1.5-4 cm broad, long cuneate at the base, short acuminate at the apex, glabrous, chartaceous, the petiole 1.5-4.5 cm long, the older leaves ovate to broadly ovate, 10-18 cm long, 5-13 cm broad, rounded, cordate or deeply cordate at the base, short acuminate to acute at the apex, glabrous, coriaceous, the petiole 3.5-7 cm long, often sulcate and canalicu-late; all leaves with 5-7 pairs of ascending lateral veins and entire at the base becoming sparsely and shallowly serrate toward the apex; stipules broadly obovate, 3-4 mm long, early caducous, subrotund at the apex. Inflorescences of small compacted cymes appearing as pseudoumbels, the peduncles up to 2 cm long, younger ones appressed pilose; buds 3-4 mm long. Flowers dark red, the pedicel 1-2 mm long, with scattered appressed pilose hairs; bracts and bracteoles 2-3 mm long, ovate, acute at the apex; calyx cupular with four rotund teeth which persist in fruiting; corolla of four free petals, the petals ovate-oblong, 3-4 mm long, obtuse at the apex; pistil 2-3 mm long, 2-locular. Berries green becoming purple at maturity, 10-12 mm long, 8-10 mm broad, suborbicular to obovoid, apex rounded and usually with a small persistent beak, 1-seeded, the seed 8-10 mm in diam, obovoid.
Home