I do not know that the true plant of this name is in cultivation. It is a native of W. China and was discovered by Wilson in 1900, but he does not appear to have collected seed. The form in cultivation is known as:
var. laevis (Rehd. & Wils.) Rehd.
Synonyms
C. spiciformis var. laevis Rehd. & Wils
A deciduous climber up to 20 ft high with glabrous young shoots. Leaves oval or ovate, rounded or broadly wedge-shaped at the base, slender-pointed; margins round-toothed, sometimes very closely and regularly so; 2 to 4{1/2} in. long, 1{1/2} to 3 in. wide; dark green above, paler beneath, glabrous on both sides; stalk {1/2} to {5/8} in. long. Flowers yellowish white, small, produced in slender, terminal panicles 3 to 5 in. long, often supplemented by clusters in the uppermost leaf-axils. Fruit {1/4} in. wide, orange-yellow, three-valved; seed-coat dark brown, shining.Native of W. Szechwan, China; introduced in 1911 to Kew (No. 1176, Wilson), where it has proved very hardy and vigorous. It resembles
C. hypoleucus in its long, slender terminal inflorescence, but the leaves of that species are very glaucous beneath and the fruit-stalks are twice as long. The typical
C. vaniotii apparently differs chiefly from this variety in its leaves being downy on the midrib and veins beneath.
