Stauntonia angustifolia - Narrow-Leaf Sausage Vine

Narrow-Leaf Sausage Vine is an evergreen climber with stems and branches grayish brown, striped. Leaf-stalks are long; leaves digitately compound with 5-7 leaflets. Leaflets are 3-13 x 0.3-5 cm, leathery. It is closely related to Sausage Vine which has broader leaflets. Racemes are several, short; flower-cluster-stalk short, 0.8-2 cm. Male flowers: flower-stalk 1-1.5 cm. Outer 3 sepals linear-oblong, 1-1.5 x 0.3-0.4 cm, tip blunt; inner 3 sepals smaller. Petals nearly round, less than 1 mm in diam. Stamens straight, about 1 cm. Female flowers: flower-stalk 3.5-5 cm. Sepals purplish red; outer 3 sepals obovate-round to broadly ovate, 14-16 x 7-9 mm; inner 3 sepals smaller. Petals ovate-triangular, about 0.4 mm wide. Staminodes stalkless, about 0.7 mm. Fruits are purple at maturity, oblong, 5-9 cm, tip rounded and apiculate. Narrow-Leaf Sausage Vine is is found from Central to East Himalaya, from Nepal to SW China, at altitudes of 1000-2700 m. Flowering: April-June.