''Vitis balansana'' is a species of climbing vine in the grape family native to temperate and tropical Asia. Its native range encompasses

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and three southeastern provinces in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

and the island of

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

) The habitat of ''V. balansana'' varies; it has adapted to living under

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

cover, and in sun-soaked

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

valleys, at between 200 and 800 meters.

Varieties

''V. b.'' var. ''balansana'', the type for this species, is the only variety known from Guangdong and Hainan provinces or from Vietnam, the other two are both native to Guangxi, and may not be known from elsewhere. Each variety is known by its own distinct name in

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

: *''Vitis balansana'' var. ''balansana'' is known as ''xiao guo pu tao'', or fruitlet grape;Page
''Vitis balansana'' var. ''balansana'' at eFloras
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translate (Chinese to English) *''Vitis balansana'' var. ''tomentosa'' is known by the same name, but with an additional prefix, i.e. ''rong mao xiao guo pu tao'', or downy fruitlet grape;Page
''Vitis balansana'' var. ''tomentosa'' at eFloras
read through Skweezer translate (Chinese to English) *''Vitis balansana'' var. ''ficifolioides'' is known as ''long zhou pu tao'', or Longzhou ragon stategrape, from the County of Longzhou in Guangxi, on the Sino-Vietnam border.Page
''Vitis balansana'' var. ''ficifolioides'' at eFloras
read through Skweezer translate (Chinese to English)

References

balansana Plants described in 1887 Flora of China Flora of Vietnam {{Vitaceae-stub