A deciduous climber; young shoots clothed with a whitish felt, and attaching themselves to their supports by twining tendrils, which are also felted. Leaves ovate with a heart-shaped or truncate base and pointed apex, usually but not always shallowly three- or five-lobed, unevenly and shallowly toothed, 3 to 6 in. long, three-fourths as wide, dark green above and at first downy, becoming glabrous, clothed beneath with a vividly white, close felt which remains until the leaves fall; stalk 1 to 3 in. long; veins in six to nine pairs. Berries globose, 1⁄3 in. wide, blue-black, borne in slender bunches 4 to 6 in. long.
Native of Western and Central China; introduced by Wilson in 1907, in the autumn of which year seeds were sent to Kew from the Arnold Arboretum (W.134). This is a very distinct and ornamental species on account of the white felt that covers the under-surface of the leaf. No cultivated species of Vitis has this character more marked. It is a vigorous grower and very hardy.
var. bellula (Rehd.) Rehd. V. pentagona var. bellula Rehd. – This differs from the type chiefly in its much smaller leaves, 11⁄2 to 21⁄2 in. long.