Paullinia japonica Thunberg in Murray, Syst. Veg., ed. 14, 380. 1784; Ampelopsis mirabilis Diels & Gilg; A. napiformis Carrière; A. serianiifolia Bunge; A. tuberosa Carrière; Cissus serianiifolia (Bunge) Walpers; Vitis serianiifolia (Bunge) Maximowicz.

Branchlets terete, with longitudinal ridges, glabrous; tendrils unbranched or with short branches near tip. Leaves palmate, 3-5-foliolate; stipules caducous; petiole 1-4 cm, glabrous; leaflets pinnatipartite, or margin deeply toothed and not divided, abaxially glabrous or sometimes sparsely pubescent on veins, pinnatifid lobes 0.5-3.5 cm wide, apex acute or acuminate; central leaflet of 5-foliolate leaves deeply divided to base with 1-3 nodes, usually winged between nodes, wing 2-6 mm wide; lateral leaflets not articulate or with 1 node; central leaflets of 3-foliolate leaves with 1 node or without nodes, base tapering, winglike, wing 2-3 mm wide. Polychasium leaf-opposed, 1-2 cm in diam.; peduncle 1.5-5 cm, often tendril-like. Pedicel short or flower nearly sessile, glabrous. Buds ovoid, 1.5-2 mm, apex rounded. Petals oval, 1.2-2.2 mm, glabrous. Anthers oval, nearly square. Lower part of ovary adnate to disk; style shortly claviform. Berry globose, 8-10 mm in diam., glaucous, 1-3-seeded. Seeds obovoid. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Sep. 2n = 40*.

● Shrublands, hillsides, grassy meadows; 100-900 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang [cultivated in Japan].