Ampelocissus martini (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ampelocissus martini Planchon

Family: Vitaceae

• Vitis martini hort. ex Ridley.

• Philippines: bika (Bisaya)
• Laos: sômz kôôyx
• Thailand: somkhung, thaowan-khon, somkui
• Vietnam: nho rùng.

Indo-China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines.

The fruits are edible, sweet and acid at the same time, and leave a smarting sensation on the tongue. In Indo-China unripe fruits are eaten with salt.

• Large woody vine with tuberous roots and conspicuous tendrils.
• Leaves 3-lobed, velvety on lower surface.
• Fruit a globose berry, 1 cm in diameter, reddish-purple to black, in large bunches together.

It grows in thickets at low altitudes.

• Brown, W.H., 1951 1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941 1943 ed. 3 Volumes. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Technical Bulletin 10. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines.

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.

• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd ed. 3 Volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp.

• Suessenguth, K., 1953. Vitaceae. In: Engler, A. & Prantl, K. (Editors): Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien. 2nd ed. Band 20. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin.

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen