[1] A lush, dense, attractive creeper that naturally reaches up to the forest canopy and covers the tree-tops with its foliage.

New velvety shoots grow upwards, reaching out with their tendrils, while old stems or lianas hang like rope from the canopy.

In fact, they resemble the 3-lobed leaves of their Eurasian relative, the Grapevine (Vitis vinifera), with slightly serrated, wavy margins.

The Cape grape can be found throughout the wetter regions of southern Africa, from the forests on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, eastwards throughout the coastal afro-temperate forests of South Africa (Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Provinces) and then on to Zimbabwe and Malawi.

It can be used as a groundcover in shady areas; it can be planted to grow up walls like ivy (although it requires a trellis of some sort for its tendrils to hold onto); it readily climbs up and over a fence to form a screen or hedge; and it can even be used to make wire-basket topiaries.