Botanical Family · Vitales

Vitaceae

Grape family

24 speciesOrder Vitales8+ well-known plants

Climbing vines with tendrils arising opposite leaves. Includes grape (Vitis), boston ivy (Parthenocissus), and cissus.

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Representative specimen · Vitaceae

Key pattern

Alternate, often palmately veined leaves on woody climbers that grip using tendrils positioned directly opposite a leaf rather than growing from its axil; small flowers ripen into a juicy berry.

The tendrils here are modified flower-cluster branches, not modified leaves or stipules as in most other climbing plants — a structural quirk that quietly sets the family apart.

Identify the species

Which Vitaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Vitaceae species.

Click a node to trace its path · pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan

Leaf TypeIs the leaf a single blade, or divided into leaflets?

Palmately compound (leaflets radiate from one point)

Simple (single blade)

Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?

Glabrous

Glabrous (smooth, hairless)

Hirsute (coarsely hairy)

Pubescent (softly hairy)

HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?

Climbing vine

Woody climbing vine

Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?

Glabrous (smooth, hairless)

Not sure / other

Pubescent (softly hairy)

Tomentose (woolly, matted hairs)

HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?

Climbing vine

Climbing/erect vine

How to recognise the Vitaceae family

01
Leaf arrangement: alternate
02
Leaf type: simple/palmate compound
03
Growth forms: vine/shrub
04
Inflorescence: cymose/panicle
05
Fruit: berry

Family identification method

To check whether a plant belongs to Vitaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.

Learn the full family-identification method