Cocculus hirsutus (L.) W.Theob.

Scandent shrubs or lianas, woody; young stems yellow-brown and densely tomentose, becoming scabrous and glabrate. Leaves simple, alternate; petiole 5-20 mm, tomentose; lamina narrowly or broadly ovate to ovate-oblong, 40-80 x 25-55 mm, heteromorphic, lower leaves 3-to 5-lobed, upper leaves entire; venation palmate, 3 to 5 veins clearly visible on both sides; apex obtuse to rounded, mucronulate; base truncate or slightly cordate to rounded; dark green, shiny adaxially, lighter, dull green abaxially; young leaves densely pubescent, becoming glabrescent. Inflorescence a many-flowered cymule, 60-300 mm long, paired or solitary; inflorescence leaves usually smaller than rest of plant, 5 x 3 mm; bracts linear, 0.6-1.5 mm long, tomentose. Male flowers small; pedicels 0.5-1.0 mm long; sepals free, pubescent, in 2 or 3 whorls with 3.3 or 2.3,3 sepals (outside to inside), outer sepals oblong to lanceolate, 0.5-1.2 x 0.2-0.9 mm, inner sepals elliptical to obovate, 1.6-2.5 x 1.3-1.8 mm; petals 6, ovate-oblong, 0.7-1 x 0.4-0.6 mm, in 2 whorls, free, sparsely pubescent to glabrescent, furnished at the base with a fleshy inflexed auricle sur-rounding the stamen, apex often bifid or deeply emarginated; stamens 6, in 2 whorls, filaments free, slightly fleshy, anthers dorsifix, dehiscence transverse; 3 rudimentary carpels often present. Female flowers small; pedicels 1-1.8 mm long, pubescent; sepals free, in 2 or 3 whorls with 2.3 or 3.3 or 2.3,3 sepals (outside to inside); oblong to lanceolate, 0.9-1.8 x 0.3-0.9 mm, inner sepals obovate, 1.5-2.4 x 1.2-1.5 mm, sparsely tomentose; petals 6, ovate-oblong, 0.9-1.4 x 0.4-0.7 mm, in 2 whorls, free; staminodes 6, opposite petals, slightly fleshy, 0.3-0.4 mm long; carpels 3, free, style with stigma bending backwards. Fruit a drupe, obovate to rotund, 4-8 x 4-5 mm, purple when ripe; endocarp bony, horseshoe-shaped, dorsal ridge sharp, prominent, lateral ridges often inconspicuous and separated from the dorsal ridge by a girdle of irregular ridges; condyle circular, septum perforated, edge of condyle involute, composed of many radial ridges. Seed endosperm present as a thin layer; embryo curved; cotyledons plane.

Bushland and semi-desert scrub vegetation at elevations up to 1,200 metres. It grows on sandy and gravelly soil, and can form a dense cover on top of other plants.

Can be grown by seedlings.