鞘花 qiao hua

Loranthus cochinchinensis Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 1: 195. 1790; Elytranthe ampullacea (Roxburgh) G. Don; E. ampullacea var. tonkinensis Lecomte; E. cochinchinensis (Loureiro) G. Don; E. cochinchinensis var. tonkinensis (Lecomte) H. L. Li; E. fordii (Hance) Merrill; Loranthus ampullaceus Roxburgh; L. fordii Hance; Macrosolen fordii (Hance) Danser.

Shrub 0.5-1.3 m tall. Branches grayish, scattered lenticellate. Petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade broadly elliptic or ovate to lanceolate, 5-10 × 2.5-6 cm, leathery, lateral veins 4 or 5 pairs, abaxially prominent or obscure on both faces, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescences solitary or 2- or 3-fascicled, axillary, sometimes at older leafless nodes, (2-)4-8-flowered racemes; peduncle 15-20 mm; bracts broadly ovate, 1-2 mm; bracteoles triangular, connate at base, 1-1.5 mm. Pedicel 4-6 mm. Calyx ellipsoid, 2-2.5 mm, limb annular; ca. 0.5 mm. Mature bud 1-1.5 cm. Corolla orange, straight, inflated in middle, 6-angled, lobes lanceolate, ca. 4 mm, reflexed. Filaments ca. 2 mm; anthers ca. 1 mm. Berry orange, subglobose, ca. 7 mm. Fl. Feb-Jun, fr. May-Aug.

Forests, plains, valleys, mountain slopes; ?100-1600 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, S Hunan, Sichuan, Xizang (Mêdog), Yunnan [Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Sikkim, Thailand, Vietnam].

The plants have medicinal uses. Recorded hosts include Castanea mollissima, Cinnamomum camphora, Cunninghamia lanceolata, Ficus lacor, Liquidambar formosana, Schima superba, and Vernicia montana. The inflorescence, usually with four or more flowers and with pedicels 4–6 mm, immediately distinguishes this very common species from others recorded from China, even in the absence of corollas.