Flora of New Zealand Series

Dioecious or gynodioecious, deciduous lianes, with twining stems. Pith solid or lamellate. Lvs usually serrate, rarely entire. Fls usually in axillary cymes, sometimes solitary, cup-shaped. Petals convolute, delicate, usually white. Stamens numerous. Ovary with numerous locules. Styles numerous. Fr. a fleshy berry. Seeds numerous, embedded in pulp.

c. 40 spp., E. Asia, southwards to Malesia. Naturalised sp. 1.

A number of Chinese spp. have recently been introduced into cultivation in N.Z.