Woody climber with rusty-haired new growth and simple or 2-branched tendrils. Leaves simple, more or less ovate, to about 10 cm long, 4 cm wide; margins toothed to entire, lower surface rusty-haired and with domatia in the vein axils. Flower clusters dense. Flowers with yellow petals; spring to autumn. Fruit purplish.
Several native species are grown: C. discolor Blume, Trailing Begonia Vine, from Australia and SE Asia is easily distinguished by the variegated leaves that are purplish below - it is sometimes grown as an indoor plant; C. hypoglauca A. Gray, Giant Water Vine, has leaves with 3-5 leaflets, each with a pronounced stalk; C. sterculiifolia (Benth.) Planch. has leaves of 3-5 leaflets with prominent domatia.
C. rhombifolia Vahl, Venezuelan Treebine, is an evergreen climber with cylindrical, hairy stems. Leaves with 3 leaflets, each to 10 cm long, rhomboid, the margins with large teeth. The cultivar 'Ellen Danica' is a vigorous, dense bush with glossy, deeply cut and lobed leaves that are often almost round.
Qld, NSW.
Source: (2002). Vitaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.