Between 4 & 41, see text Poikilospermum is a genus of shrubs or tall woody climbers, consisting of at least 33 accepted species.

The plants are found from India and China (Yunnan), the Sino-Himalayan region to Sulawesi and Jawa in Indonesia.

[5] Older, nonphylogenetic, work placed the genus in Cecropiaceae, a family regarded as intermediate between Urticeae and Moraceae[1] Alexander Zippelius (1797-1828) is given authorship of the genus, publishing in Annales Musei Botanici Lugduno-Batavi (Amsterdam), 1: 203, in 1864.

The inflorescences are solitary and axillary dichotomously branched cymes, they are unisexual (the plants are dioecious).

The male flowers are with 2-4 perianth lobes, free or slightly connate; there are two to four stamens, the filaments are straight (in P. subgen.

Plants of the genus occur naturally from India across to Southeast Asia, China and Indonesia.

[3][1] Countries and regions in which plants of the genus grow include: Indonesia (Maluku, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Jawa, Sumatera); Philippines; Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia); Thailand; Cambodia; Vietnam; Zhōngguó/China (South-central); Laos; Myanmar; India (including Nicobar Islands, Andaman Islands, Assam); Bangladesh; Tibet; East Himalaya.