Cissus rotundifolia (Forssk.) Vahl, Vitaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 9 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Arabian wax cissus, Venezuelan treebine

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Vigorous climber; stems often 4-5-angled, pubescent or glabrescent; tendrils 2-fid. Leaves simple or occasionally lobed; petiole pubescent, up to 1 cm. long; leaf-lamina up to 8 x 8 cm., circular to ovate, obtuse at the apex, margin crenate, cordate at the base, pubescent or glabrescent on both sides, thick and fleshy; stipules up to 4 mm. long, ± semicircular, glabrous, caducous. Cymes leaf-opposed and terminal, lax; peduncle 3 cm. long; pedicels 4-5 mm. long lengthening to 10 mm. in fruit, appressed-pubescent. Flower-bud 3.5 x 1.5 mm. Calyx 1 mm. long, entire. Petals green. Ovary glabrous; style 0.5 mm. long. Fruit 1.5 x 1.3 cm., red when ripe. Seeds 1-2 per fruit, 9 mm. long, smooth with single crest" (Flora Zambesiaca)

"Climbers to 30 feet long, glabrous, becoming ± woody; stems succulent, 4- or 5-ridged in age.  Leaves simple; blades nearly circular, 2-3 (-4) inches in diameter, brittle-fleshy, glaucous bluish green, margins nearly entire to scalloped; tendrils forked or not; stipules early deciduous.  Inflorescence clusters longer than leaves.  Flowers tiny, greenish to whitish.  Berry ellipsoid, ca 0.5 inches long, red or purplish"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 572).

"Differs from Cissus nodosa Blume in having older stems with four thick, corky wings, circular to ovate, brittle, fleshy, waxy leaves up to 8 x 8 cm with crenate margins, flowers with green petals, and smaller berries ca. 15 x 13 mm"  (Lorence & Flynn, 1997).

Habitat/ecology:  "Ideally suited to the dry, sun-drenched leeward sides of [the Hawaiian] islands" (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 572).

Propagation:  "Fruit-eating birds disperse the seed" (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 573).

Native range:  Africa and the Arabian peninsula (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2005) (p. 573) Locally naturalized.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim (1997) (p. 12) Voucher cited: Flynn & Hanna 5810 (PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2005) (p. 573) Locally naturalized.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2002) (p. 26) E. Maui. Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 990913-1 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2005) (p. 573) Locally naturalized.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Conant, Patrick (1998) (p. 4) Voucher cited: Herbst & Bookless 9764 (BISH)

Additional information:  Additional online information about Cissus rotundifolia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Cissus rotundifolia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Conant, Patrick. 1998. Range extensions for Malastomes in Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1997. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 56:1-2.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim. 1997. New naturalized plant records for Kaua‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1996. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 49:9-13.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2002. New plant records from the Hawaiian archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:16-27.

U. S. Government. 2006. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).