南天竹 nan tian zhu

Nandina domestica var. linearifolia C. Y. Wu ex S. Y. Bao.

Shrubs, evergreen, erect, to 3 m tall, glabrous, few branched. Branchlets reddish when young. Leaves 30-50 cm; leaflets nearly sessile; blades elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 2-10 × 0.5-2 cm, weakly leathery, glabrous, base cuneate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences erect, 20-35 cm. Flowers cream or white. Sepals ovate-triangular or ovate-oblong, 1-4 mm. Petals oblong, ca. 4.2 × 2.5 mm, apex obtuse. Stamens ca. 3.5 mm; anther connective prolonged. Ovary locules 1; ovules 1-3. Carpopodium 4-8 mm. Berry red or purplish, 6-8 mm in diam. Seeds grayish or brownish, oblate-spheroidal. Fl. Mar-Jun, fr. May-Nov. 2n = 20*.

Streamsides in montane forests, roadsides, thickets; below 1000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, ?Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [India, Japan; probably not native in SE North America, West Indies, and South America (Peru)].