''Thladiantha dubia'', the Manchu tubergourd, goldencreeper, wild potato, or ( French) ''thladianthe douteuse'', is a herbaceous

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

climbing vine of the

gourd family The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are: *''Cucurbita'' – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds *'' Lagen ...

. It is native to Russia, northern China, and Korea, but has been introduced to Japan, southeast Europe (Austria, Romania, Germany), the Galapagos Islands, and scattered locations in North America (Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Wisconsin). It is occasionally grown as a medicinal plant, or as an ornamental in North America (the US and Canada). Like other members of the genus, it is dioecious. It grows from a

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...

and spreads

vegetatively Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or spec ...

by sending out underground rhizomes that produce new tubers.

References

* Cucurbitoideae Taxa named by Alexander von Bunge {{Cucurbitales-stub