Climbing or erect shrubs, sometimes herbaceous, rarely small trees.
Tendrils usually present, leaf-opposed, simple or branched, sometimes with
adhesive discs at the tips. Leaves alternate. simple, sometimes palmately lobed.
or palmately or pinnately compound, stipulate. Inflorescence leaf-opposed.
axillary or pseudo-tenninal, sometimes cirrhiferous, usually cymose or paniculate.
Flowers small, regular, usually 4- or 5-merous, bisexual or unisexual, the
parts hypogynous. Calyx cupular or saucer-shaped, entire, dentate or lobed.
Petals usually free, sometimes distally coherent and calyptrately caducous.
valvate, hooded at apex. Stamens antipetalous; filaments slender; anthers introrse;
pollen tricolporate. Disc intrastaminal, adnate to ovary, annular or cupular.
sometimes of 4 distinct glands. Carpels 2, syncarpous; ovary 2-loculate, superior,
usually sunken in the disc; ovules 2 in each locule, anatropous or apotropous;
style short or absent; stigma simple, subcapitate or sometimes 2- or 4-fid.
Fruit a 1-4 -seeded berry. Seeds smooth or rugose, usually with a longitudinal
groove on either side of the linear raphe on adaxial surface and with a chalazal
knot on abaxial surface; embryo minute, straight; cotyledons small; endosperm
copious, oily and proteinaceous.
Widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics throughout the world,
with ranges extending into the North and South temperate regions; ca 13
genera and ca 800 species, 8 genera and 63 species in India.
Literature.
LATIFF, A.
(1981) Studies in Malesian Vitaceae V. The genus Cayratia
in the Malay Peninsula. Sains Malaysiana 10: 129-139. LATIFF, A.
(1982) Studies in Malesian
Vitaceae I -IV. Federation Mus. Journ. 27: 41-93. LATIFF, A.
(1982); Studies in Malesian Vitaceae
V. The Malay Peninsula species of Cissus. Malay Nat. J. 35: 197-207. NAIR, N.C.
(1970) Review
of embryology of Vitaceae. Bull. Indian Nat. Sci. Acad. 41: 174-179. NAIR, N.C. & K.V. MANI
(1960) Organography and floral anatomy of some species of Vitaceae. Phytomorphology 10:
138-144. SHEITY, B.V.
(1958). Cytotaxonomical studies in Vitaceae. Bibiliogr. Genet. 18; 167·
272. SHETTY, B.V. & P. SINGH (1988) The Vitaceae in Rheede's Hortus Malabaricus. Taxon
37: 169-174. SHETTY, B.V. & P. SINGH (1989) Notes on Vitaceae in India and some neighbouring
regions. Kew Bull. 44: 469-478. SINGH, P. & B.V. SHETTY (1986) Nomenclature notes on
Vitaceae of (ndian subcontinent. Taxon 35: 596-597.
KEY TO THE GENERA
1a. Petals cohering at apex and falling off as a cup at anthesis;
leaves always simple
