Species
+

Cissus quadrangularis L.

Finger Cactus, Hadladlabi, Single-stemmed Wild Grape, Single-stemmed wild grape

Climate known 71 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Cissus quadrangularis is a perennial plant of the grape family. It is commonly known as veldt grape, winged treebine or adamant creeper. The species is native to tropical Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and much of Africa.

Text from Wikipedia, “Cissus quadrangularis”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Cissus

Cissus is a genus of 350 species of lianas in the grape family (Vitaceae). Species are native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, tropical Asia, Papuasia, and Australia.

Text from Wikipedia, “Cissus”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Vitaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Benin, Burkina, Gambia, The +41
Wild records
1452 in range· 988 open

At a glance

Warmest month
32°C
Apr, mean day; nights 24 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
596mm/yr
9 wet months · peak Aug 92 mm (CHELSA)
Light
32–42DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a sharp rainy season, May to October at the habitat (not shifted); the temperature curve is flat (3.2 °C of range), so no growing season is inferred. Habitat rain 596 mm a year, wettest August at 92 mm, driest January at 12 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 32 to 42 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 16.1 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Cissus bifida Schumach. & Thonn.; Cissus edulis Dalzell; Cissus quadrangula Salisb.; Cissus quadrangulus L.; Cissus tetragona Harv. and 8 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a sharp rainy season, May to October at the habitat (not shifted); the temperature curve is flat (3.2 °C of range), so no growing season is inferred.

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the year's rain (439 mm of 596 mm) falls in May to October. The temperature curve is flat, 3.2 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere, within 10° of the equator; with no thermal season there there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 596 mm a year, wettest August at 92 mm, driest January at 12 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

596 mm a year at the habitat, 439 mm of it May to October. Wettest month August at 92 mm, driest January at 12 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 359 mm to 1404 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 32 to 42 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 32 to 42 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 25, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 16.1 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 16.1 °C, the absolute minimum 12.5 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 36.2 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 18.7 °C in January (across the envelope cells 14.6 °C to 23.6 °C), warmest day 32.3 °C in April (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 16.1 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 54 to 62% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 29 °C in Aug to 32 °C in Apr; mean night from 19 °C in Jan to 24 °C in May. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 596 mm of rain a year, most in Aug. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 1032 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 12.5 °C and the 99th-percentile day 36.2 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°45°36.2° 99th-percentile day (undated)12.5° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250300mm rainDLI 32–42RH 54–62 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 1032 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C30 / 25–3431 / 26–3632 / 27–3932 / 27–4032 / 26–3930 / 24–3729 / 24–3429 / 25–3330 / 26–3430 / 26–3529 / 26–3629 / 25–34
Night °C19 / 15–2420 / 16–2422 / 17–2524 / 18–2624 / 16–2724 / 14–2723 / 14–2622 / 15–2522 / 16–2522 / 17–2521 / 16–2419 / 15–24
Rain mm12 / 0–14416 / 0–12631 / 1–13443 / 5–16057 / 8–15153 / 6–17589 / 8–22992 / 8–25991 / 10–19657 / 13–19440 / 0–17415 / 0–157
DLI37 / 32–4039 / 35–4342 / 35–4541 / 31–4739 / 28–4535 / 25–4232 / 25–3832 / 26–3836 / 29–4138 / 31–4237 / 29–4136 / 28–39
RH %55 / 34–6454 / 31–6355 / 32–6456 / 38–6557 / 45–6557 / 49–6760 / 52–6862 / 52–6961 / 51–6859 / 49–6657 / 37–6557 / 35–64

Each figure is the median across the 1032 grid cells holding the 1429 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1863:4185 (-3.175, 29.275). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 12.5 °C, 1st-percentile night 16.1 °C, 99th-percentile day 36.2 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 1032 distinct grid cells holding the 1429 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1863:4185 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -3.00_29.375, lapse-corrected -697 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 825 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeBenin, Burkina, Gambia, The, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Rwanda, Zaïre, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Northern Provinces, Madagascar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Laccadive Is., Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar· introduced: Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, Andaman Is., Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Jawa, Malaya, Philippines, Marianas, Cuba, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Windward Is.
Kew's description“climbing succulent” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker6.956, 2.159 · in the densest population, 224 records (15% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1452 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 988 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker in the same place. 122 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 23 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1452 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Cissus quadrangularisCissus quadrangularisCissus quadrangularisCissus quadrangularisCissus quadrangularisCissus quadrangularisCissus quadrangularisCissus quadrangularis

Photographs: (c) P Jeganathan, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Mark Liptrot, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Aravinth, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Sindhu Haridas, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Elliot Greiner, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Joey Bom, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Cissus quadrangularis, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Characterization of new natural cellulosic fiber from Cissus quadrangularis root
S. Indran, R. Edwin Raj, V.S. Sreenivasan (2014) · Carbohydrate Polymers
A systematic review of the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines used in the treatment of obesity
Shirin Hasani‐Ranjbar, Neda Nayebi, Bagher Larijani, Mohammad Abdollahı (2009) · World Journal of Gastroenterology
Characterization of new natural cellulosic fiber from Cissus quadrangularis stem
S. Indran, R. Edwin Raj (2014) · Carbohydrate Polymers
Phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by Cissus quadrangularis: influence of physicochemical factors
M. Vanaja, Gnanadhas Gnanajobitha, Kanniah Paulkumar, S. Rajeshkumar (2013) · Journal of nanostructure in chemistry
Antiosteoporotic effect of ethanol extract of Cissus quadrangularis Linn. on ovariectomized rat
Annie Shirwaikar, Saleemulla Khan, S. Malini (2003) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Major Herbs of Ayurveda
Elizabeth M. Williamson (2002) · Medical Entomology and Zoology
Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity of Cissus quadrangularis L.
Kotamballi N. Chidambara Murthy, A. Vanitha, M. Swamy, G. A. Ravishankar (2003) · Journal of Medicinal Food
Biogenic synthesis of antibacterial silver chloride nanoparticles using leaf extracts of Cissus quadrangularis Linn
V. Gopinath, S. Priyadarshini, N. Meera Priyadharsshini, K. Pandian (2012) · Materials Letters
Stilbene Derivatives from Cissus quadrangularis
Saburi A. Adesanya, René Nia, Marie‐Thérèse Martin, N. Boukamcha (1999) · Journal of Natural Products
A Review of Natural Stimulant and Non‐stimulant Thermogenic Agents
Sidney J. Stohs, Vladimir Badmaev (2016) · Phytotherapy Research

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Cissus 2 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 117 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.