Akebia

Decaisne

Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. 1: 195. 1839.

Etymology: Japanese akebi, name for Akebia quinata
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 3.

Vines, twining. Leaves palmately compound; leaflets 3-5, articulate at base of blade and at base of petiolule. Inflorescences racemose, pistillate flowers proximal to staminate flowers in each raceme. Flowers dimorphic: pistillate flowers larger and longer pediceled than staminate flowers; sepals mostly brownish to purplish. Staminate flowers: pistillodes present. Pistillate flowers: pistils (3-)-8(-15); placentation laminar; staminodes present. Fruits follicles, fleshy, dehiscent along adaxial suture. Seeds 100-several hundred. x = 16.

Distribution

North America, Asia.

Discussion

Species 4 (1 in the flora).

Pistils in Akebia are incompletely closed distally (W. W. Payne and J. L. Seago 1968).

Lower Taxa