Hippocratea volubilisL.

medicine vine

WFO wfo-0000723651 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Hippocratea volubilis, photographed by Kurt Miller
fig. a Kurt Miller, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-09-03 / obs. 154983452
Hippocratea volubilis, photographed by Tom Field
fig. b Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 112439892
Hippocratea volubilis, photographed by Tom Field
fig. c Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 112440077
Hippocratea volubilis, photographed by Tom Field
fig. d Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 112065779
Hippocratea volubilis, photographed by Tom Field
fig. e Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 113331235
Hippocratea volubilis, photographed by Tom Field
fig. f Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 107910671
Hippocratea volubilis, photographed by Laura Gaudette
fig. g Laura Gaudette, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 81065420
Hippocratea volubilis, photographed by Jay Horn
fig. h Jay Horn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 41361410

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 34 botanical countries

Regions where Hippocratea volubilis is native: Florida, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. FloridaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruSouthwest CaribbeanSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela Leeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Hippocratea volubilis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Honduras HON
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Southwest Caribbean SWC
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Florida FLA NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 53 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Bejuco pendulus Loefl.
  • Hippocratea acutiflora Moc. & Sessé ex DC.
  • Hippocratea affinis Cambess.
  • Hippocratea anafensis Urb.
  • Hippocratea aubletiana Miers
  • Hippocratea cearensis Miers
  • Hippocratea copiosiflora Miers
  • Hippocratea diffusa Miers
  • Hippocratea discolor Seem.
  • Hippocratea discolor G.Mey.
  • Hippocratea divaricata Miers
  • Hippocratea elliptica Kunth
  • Hippocratea hilariana Miers
  • Hippocratea infuscata Miers
  • Hippocratea laevigata Rich. ex Vahl
  • Hippocratea lonchophylla Miers
  • Hippocratea meizantha S.F.Blake
  • Hippocratea obcordata Lam.
  • Hippocratea ovalifolia Miers
  • Hippocratea ovata Lam.
  • Hippocratea ovata Griseb.
  • Hippocratea ovata f. multiflora Peyr.
  • Hippocratea ovata lus. latibarbis (Peyr.) Peyr.
  • Hippocratea ovata var. crassifolia Peyr.

and 29 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.