Tapevine (Stephania japonica)

Tapevine (Stephania japonica) is a species of plant in the Menispermaceae, the stem grows climbing, the leaves are triangular, the fruit is in clumps and is round or elongated.

S. japonica grows vines or climbs by being wrapped around a support. The stems are branched, cylindrical, slender, green or reddish in color and hairy.

The leaves have long, hairy stalks. The sheet is triangular to round, the corners are acute to round, the tip is pointed to obtuse, hairy, 10 main and radial veins, the top side is green and the bottom side is pale.

The fruit has a long stalk, grows in groups, each group consists of many fruits, elongated round and bright green in color. Tapevine are often found growing wild in soils with a pH of 5.5-6.5 and an elevation of 800 meters.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Menispermaceae
Genus: Stephania
Species: Stephania japonica
Varieties: Stephania japonica var. discolor, Stephania japonica var. hispidula

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