Ampelocissus gardineri (F.M.Bailey) Jackes

Vitaceae

Jackes, B.R. (1984) Austrobaileya 2(3): 84.

Grape, Slender; Bushy Water Vine

A slender vine not exceeding a stem diameter of 2 cm.

Leaves bipinnate, pedately compound usually with about 11 leaflets per compound leaf. Compound leaf petiole about 7-9 cm long. Middle leaflet blade about 11.5-12.5 x 3.2-3.5 cm, stalk about 3-3.5 cm long. Lateral leaf blades about 3-10.5 x 1.8-3.7 cm, stalks about 1.5-2 cm long. Lower surface of the leaf blade clothed in pale brown to ginger, long, twisted hairs which superficially resemble cobwebs. Lateral veins about 5-7 on each side of the midrib. Leaflet blade margins with 5-8 rounded teeth on each side. Tendrils simple (unbranched) leaf-opposed. Stipules about 2 mm long, difficult to distinguish.

Inflorescence produced on a leaf-opposed tendril. Flowers about 3 mm diam. Calyx cup-shaped with inconspicuous lobes at the apex. Petals about 1.5-2.5 mm long. Staminal filaments about 1-1.2 mm long, anthers yellow, about 0.5 mm long, pollen yellow. Ovary about 1.2-1.8 mm long, stigma +/- sessile, five-lobed following anthesis. Ovules two per locule.

Fruits globular to ovoid, about 7-10 x 8-14 mm. Seeds about 7-9 mm long. Embryo about 1-2 mm long. Cotyledons about 0.4 mm long, slightly wider than the radicle.

Cotyledons ovate to orbicular, about 20-29 x 17-28 mm, petioles longer than the blades of the cotyledons. Cotyledonary petioles attached to the seedling below the surface of the soil. Hypocotyl absent. First leaves cordate, apex mucronate, base cordate, margin toothed with three or four rounded teeth on each side, venation +/- palmate. Lower surface clothed in short translucent hairs, upper surface with hairs only along the midrib. Stem longitudinally ribbed. Stipules membranous. Seed germination time 224 days.

Endemic to Queensland, occurs in CYP and NEQ. Altitudinal range from 160 to 620 m. Occurs in vine thicket or monsoon forest.

Vitis gardineri F.M.Bailey, The Queensland Flora 1: 283(1899), Type: Walsh River, T.R. Gardiner; holo: BRI. Cayratia calcicola Domin, Bibliotheca Botanica 89(4): 925(1928), Type: Nord-Queensland: auf dem Karsthugel Lions Head Bluff bei Chillagoe, Nov. 1910, Domin 6410; holo: PR.