Perennial climber. Branches somewhat robust, sulcate, greyish, when young shortly and densely tomentose, when older glabrescent. Leaves: petioles robust, shortly and densely tomentose, 3-5 cm long; lamina membranous, reniform-suborbicular, slightly 5-7-lobed or almost to the middle, deep green, shortly and sparsely hairy above, greyish-green, more or less densely tomentose, 6-12 cm long and broad; lobes ovate or triangular, somewhat acute, entire or slightly undulate; basal sinus narrowly rectangular, 2-2. 5 cm deep. Tendrils rather robust, very long, rather densely and shortly puberulous. Flowers dioecious; male flowering branches slender, 10 cm long; flowers fasciculate at the nodes, fascicles bracteate; pedicels very slender, spreading, 3-12 mm long; bracts foliaceous, shortly petiolate, triangular-lanceolate, acuminate, 1 cm long; buds scarcely 2 mm thick; corolla 12-18 mm in diam., its segments ovate-oblong, obtuse, the margin broadly reflexed; filaments rather short; anthers elliptic-ovoid, connective produced into an elongate spur; female flowers solitary or in short 3-4 flowered racemes; sepals broadly triangular, obtuse, 2 mm long; staminodes setaceous; ovary tubulose-campanulate, 10-nerved, very shortly puberulous, 1.5-2 cm long; style single, very short, thick, conical; stigma sessile, reniform. Fruit narrowly campanulate, 10-nerved, smooth, the apex obtuse, trivalved, 6-7 cm long. Seeds pale fulvous, slightly marginate, 20-25 mm long, 5-6 mm broad; wing pellucid, its base shortly decurrent, obovate-oblong, 3 cm long, 17-18 mm broad, its apex rotund.
Home