斜叶蒟 xie ye ju

Climbers woody, glabrous except sometimes for finely puberulent leaves, dioecious. Stems rooting at nodes, internodes striated. Petiole 3-5 mm; leaf blade elliptic or oblong, 9-15 × 3.5-5 cm, membranous to papery, glandular, glabrous or sometimes abaxially very sparsely pubescent, base oblique, usually one side broad and rounded, other side narrow and cuneate, bilateral difference 2-4 mm, apex acuminate to long acuminate; veins 5-7, apical pair arising 3-5 cm above base; reticulate veins abaxially prominent. Spikes leaf-opposed. Male spikes 4-4.5 cm × ca. 1.5 mm overall; peduncle 5-10 mm; bracts orbicular, ca. 0.8 mm wide, peltate, sparsely gland dotted, ± sessile. Stamens 2 or 4; filaments very short or inconspicuous; anthers ellipsoid. Female spikes 2-3.5 cm × ca. 3 cm; peduncle slightly longer than petioles; bracts as in male spikes. Ovary globose, partly connate to rachis; stigmas 3 or 4. Drupe globose, ca. 2.5 mm in diam., partly connate to rachis. Fl. Apr-Jul.

* Forests, on trees or rocks. Hainan