Cissus spectabilis (Kurz) Planchon in DC., Monogr. Phan. 5: 507. 1887. Vitis spectabilis Kurz in J. Bot. n.s. 3: 196. 1874; M. Lawson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 649. 1875.

Erect shrubs; branches upright, striate, soft-pubescent. Leaves subsessile, broad-ovate, rhomboid or suborbicular, 13-20 x 13-20 cm, acute at apex, shallowly cordate at base, dentate-serrate at margins. Inflorescences divaricate cymes, ca 6 cm long, pubescent; peduncles ca 3 cm long. Flowers ca 1.5 mm long; pedicels 2-3 mm long. Calyx saucer-shaped, obscurely 4-lobed. Petals oblong-ovate, ca 1.5 x 0.7 mm, acute, hooded. Stamens ca 1 mm long; anthers globose. Disc 4-notched, covering ovary. Ovary ca 1 mm across; style stout, ca 1 mm long; stigma minute.

Fl. : June.

Distrib. India: West Bengal and Sikkim. Endemic.

Notes. Apart from the type (Sikkim Terai, S. Kurz s.n. K! CAL!), there are very few other collections present in various herbaria. All of them are from Sikkim, Siliguri and its neighbouring localities of West Bengal, and are more than hundred years old.