Hemsleya macrosperma C. Y. Wu. Tuber enlarged, oblate. Stem and branchlets slender. Tendrils 6-10 cm. Leaves pedately 5-7-foliolate; petiole 4-5 cm; leaflets oblong-lanceolate to obovate-lanceolate, margin crenate; median leaflets 4-9 × 1.5-3 cm; petiolule 2-4 mm. Male inflorescence dichotomously cymose; peduncle 2-8 cm; calyx segments ovate, 4-5 × ca. 3 mm, apex acute, reflexed; corolla orange-red, bowl-like, 8-10 mm in diam.; segments oblong, ca. 8 × 4 mm, sparsely white villous; filaments ca. 2 mm. Female inflorescence: peduncle 1-5 cm; ovary ellipsoid or subglobose, 5-7 × 4-5 mm. Fruit ovoid, 3.5-5 cm in diam. Seeds dark brown, ovoid, 9-11 × 8-9 mm, unwinged, margin smooth, ca. 1 mm wide. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Sep-Nov.
Evergreen broad-leaved or Pinus forests; 1800-3200 m. SW Sichuan. Oleanolic acid saponins:ginsenoside-Ro (= chikusetsusaponin V, 17) and hemsloside-Ma3 (18), a saponin previously isolated from a cucurbitaceous plant, Hemsleya macrosperma C. Y. Wu.