Tetrastigma bracteolatum
(Wallich) Planchon in DC., Monogr.
Phan. 5: 428. 1887. Vitis bracteolata Wallich in Roxb., FI. Ind. 2: 483. 1824;
M. Lawson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 6S4. 1875.
Kh.: Soh-mei-boit.
Climbers; branches slender, smooth, reddish; tendrils simple, ca 15 cm long. Leaves 3-foliolate, membranous, puberulous beneath especially on nerves; petioles 5-10 cm long; terminal leaflets ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 9-14 x 5- 8 cm, acute at apex, rounded to acute at base, distantly cuspidate-serrate at margins; petiolules 1-1.5 cm long, usually puberulous; lateral leaflets 6- 8 x 3-5 cm, oblique at base, margins and apex as in terminal leaflets; petiolules ca 1 cm long. Inflorescences divaricately branched, corymbose cymes, 7- 10 cm long, pubescent; peduncles 2-4 cm long, sometimes even longer due to suppression of lateral branches, pubescent. Flowers ca 1 mm long; pedicels filiform, ca 0.5 mm long, pubescent. Calyx distinctly 4-toothed, pubescent. Petals oblong-ovate, inflexed; with a dorsal spur at apex, ca 1 mm long, pubescent. Stamens ca 0.7 mm long. Disc thin, membranous, forming a ring encircling lower half in immature fruits. Ovary conical, ca 0.5 mm across, glabrous; stigma sessile. Berries globose, 6-9 mm across, 1-2-seeded. Seeds obovoid, ca 6 x 5 mm, transversely striate on sides; adaxial surface flattened with a grooved raphe; abaxial surface with an oblong chalaza in a groove formed by two longitudinal ridges.
Fl. & Fr. : Sept. - Feb.
Distrib. India: Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya.
Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
Notes. This species has the smallest flowers amongst the Indian species of the Vitaceae.
Climbers; branches slender, smooth, reddish; tendrils simple, ca 15 cm long. Leaves 3-foliolate, membranous, puberulous beneath especially on nerves; petioles 5-10 cm long; terminal leaflets ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 9-14 x 5- 8 cm, acute at apex, rounded to acute at base, distantly cuspidate-serrate at margins; petiolules 1-1.5 cm long, usually puberulous; lateral leaflets 6- 8 x 3-5 cm, oblique at base, margins and apex as in terminal leaflets; petiolules ca 1 cm long. Inflorescences divaricately branched, corymbose cymes, 7- 10 cm long, pubescent; peduncles 2-4 cm long, sometimes even longer due to suppression of lateral branches, pubescent. Flowers ca 1 mm long; pedicels filiform, ca 0.5 mm long, pubescent. Calyx distinctly 4-toothed, pubescent. Petals oblong-ovate, inflexed; with a dorsal spur at apex, ca 1 mm long, pubescent. Stamens ca 0.7 mm long. Disc thin, membranous, forming a ring encircling lower half in immature fruits. Ovary conical, ca 0.5 mm across, glabrous; stigma sessile. Berries globose, 6-9 mm across, 1-2-seeded. Seeds obovoid, ca 6 x 5 mm, transversely striate on sides; adaxial surface flattened with a grooved raphe; abaxial surface with an oblong chalaza in a groove formed by two longitudinal ridges.
Fl. & Fr. : Sept. - Feb.
Distrib. India: Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya.
Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
Notes. This species has the smallest flowers amongst the Indian species of the Vitaceae.
