Flora of North America species comparison

annual, erect, 2–5 m, herbaceous, glabrous;

prickles absent.

perennial, climbing, branching, terete, to 7+ m × 9 mm, woody, glabrous, with prickles proximally, prickles usually absent distally;

prickles blackish, unequal, 3–10+ mm, bristly, flexible.

few, disposed distally or evenly distributed, subequal;

petiole shorter than blade;

tendrils absent or rudimentary;

blade oblong, oblong-ovate, or sometimes oval, 2.5–12 × 1.5–7.5 cm, not glaucous, puberulent abaxially, base rounded to slightly cordate, margins entire, apex broadly rounded to obtuse or abruptly pointed.

± persistent in southern part of range, deciduous in north;

petiole 1–2 cm;

blade green, drying to light olive-gray, ovate-lanceolate, ovate, or sometimes pandurate, prominently reticulate, thin, 5–13 × 3–10 cm, not glaucous, glabrous (to prickly on major veins abaxially), base rounded to cordate, margins entire apically, minutely serrulate basally, thin, flat, not banded, not lobed, apex pointed.

1–3, proximalmost axillary to bracts, 5–12-flowered.

many, axillary to leaves, to 25-flowered, open to dense, spherical;

peduncle often drooping, 1.5–6.5 cm.

perianth greenish;

tepals 3–3.5 mm;

anthers shorter than filaments;

ovules (1–)2 per locule.

perianth green to bronze;

tepals 4–5 mm;

anthers ± equaling to shorter than filaments;

ovule 1 per locule;

pedicel 0.4–1.2 cm.

globose, 8–10 mm diam., glaucous.

black, globose, 6–10 mm, not glaucous.

;

rhizomes knotty, short.

= 26.