Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Vines, erect to deflexed, branching, climbing to 1.5 m; roots tuberous.

Stems: Stems slender, to 3 m, wiry, smooth to slightly ridged, cladophylls solitary at each node, broadly lanceolate to ovate, 15–35 × 5–15(–20) mm, leathery, with 20–24 parallel veins.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Leaves membranous, 1–2 mm; blade broadly lanceolate. Margins entire. Petioles absent. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences in axillary umbels, 1–3(–4)-flowered. Flowers bisexual (perfect); perianth campanulate; pedicel 5–8 mm, with hard, raised joint 1–3 mm above base. Tepals white, with green median stripe abaxially, 5–7 × 1–1.5 mm. Stamens 6, distinct, equal; anthers versatile, 2-locular, dehiscence introrse. Ovary superior, 3-locular, septal nectaries present; style 3–branched distally.

Fruit: Berries red; 6–8 mm long. Seeds 1–4(–6).

Ploidy: 2n = 20

Habitat: Waste places; open forests; roadsides.

Elevation Range: 0–100 m.