Heterosmilax gaudichaudiana
(Kunth.) Maxim
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Chun-yeh Huang, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Chun-yeh Huang, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Chun-yeh Huang, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Description
A climbing vine. The stems are woody. The leaf stalks is 1-3 cm long and has narrow wings for 1/3 its length. There are tendrils. The leaf blade is oval and 4-14 cm long by 2-13 cm wide. The flower stalk is 1-3.5 cm long. The flowers are in groups of 5-50. The flowers are red-purple. The fruit are purple-black berries. They are round and 0.8-1.2 cm across.
Edible Uses
The fruit are eaten.
Distribution
A tropical plant. It grows in dense forest and shrubby slopes along valleys between 600-1000 m altitude in S China.
Where It Grows
Asia, China, Indochina, SE Asia, Taiwan, Vietnam,
Notes
There are 12 Heterosmilax species in tropical and subtropical Asia. The Smilacaceae are woody climbers. Mostly they are in the tropics.
Synonyms
Also Known As
He si xiao ba qia
References (2)
- Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 401
- Chen Xinqi, Liang Songyun, Xu Jiemei, Tamura M.N., Liliaceae. Flora of China. p 46
