Scientific name Tetrastigma | Higher classification Vitaceae | |
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Similar Vitaceae, Stinking corpse lily, Rafflesia, Rafflesiaceae, Rafflesia patma | ||
Tetrastigma garden plants
Tetrastigma is a genus of plants in the grape family, Vitaceae. The plants are lianas that climb with tendrils and have palmately compound leaves. The species are found in subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Malesia, and Australia, where they grow in primary rainforest, gallery forest and monsoon forest and moister woodland. Species of this genus are notable as being the sole hosts of parasitic plants in the family Rafflesiaceae, one of which, Rafflesia arnoldii, produces the largest flower in the world.
Contents
Within the Vitaceae, Tetrastigma is most closely related to Cayratia and Cyphostemma.
Fossil record
A fossil seed fragment from the early Miocene of Tetrastigma sp., has been found in the Czech part of the Zittau Basin. Tetrastigma macrofossils have been recovered from the late Zanclean stage of Pliocene sites in Pocapaglia, Italy.
Selected species
Etymology
Tetrastigma is derived from Greek and means 'four stigmas', in reference to its four-lobed stigma.
