Ye Pu Tao

Ye Pu Tao, wild grape, denotes the fruit and root of wild Vitis species native to China, principally Vitis bryoniifolia Bunge, V. flexuosa Thunb., or V. quinquangularis Rehder (Vitaceae), distinguished from the cultivated wine grape V. vinifera. These are deciduous woody climbers reaching 10 m or more, with leaf-opposed branched tendrils, alternate three- to five-lobed cordate leaves, and small greenish flowers in panicles that produce small purple-black globose berries 0.5 to 1 cm across, more acidic and tannic than cultivated grapes. The plants are common on forest margins and slopes across central, southern, and eastern China. In traditional Chinese folk medicine the fruit and root are sweet, sour, and neutral, entering the Liver and Kidney channels; they tonify qi and blood, promote urination, dispel wind-damp, and stop pain, and are used for rheumatic joint pain, edema, jaundice, traumatic injury, and weakness after illness.