Fls 5-merous, actually or functionally unisexual, the plants sub- dioecious; cal obsolete or nearly so; pet separate at the base, but cohering at the summit and early deciduous; sterile fls with 5 erect stamens on long filaments and a vestigial pistil; fertile fls with a well developed pistil and 5 short, reflexed, functionless stamens; a 5-lobed nectary disk present at the base of the ovary; fr a juicy berry; seeds ovoid, 4, or fewer by abortion; simple-lvd woody vines with (rarely without) lf-opposed tendrils, the fls mostly cymose-paniculate, with the pedicels very often umbellately clustered. 60, N. Hemisphere.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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