牛耳枫 niu er feng

Shrubs, 1.5-4 m tall; branchlets grayish brown, sparsely lenticellate. Petiole 4-8 cm; leaf blade obovate or obovate-elliptic, 12-16 × 4-9 cm, chartaceous, glaucous and inconspicuously papillate abaxially, green and shining adaxially, base broadly cuneate, margin slightly reflexed, apex obtuse or rounded, mucronate; lateral veins 8-11 pairs, visible adaxially, prominent abaxially. Male flowers: pedicel 8-10 mm; calyx discoid, 3- or 4-lobed, lobes broadly triangular; stamens 9 or 10, ca. 3 mm; filaments very short; anthers oblong, laterally compressed, connective exserted. Female flowers: pedicel 5-6 mm; calyx lobes broadly triangular, ca. 1.5 mm; ovary ellipsoidal, 1.5-2 mm; style very short; stigmas 2, recurved. Infructescence 4-5 cm, densely arranged; drupe ovoid-ellipsoidal, ca. 7 × 4 mm, tuberculate, glaucous; calyx and style branches persistent. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Aug-Nov.

Forests, thickets; (below 100-)200-700 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, S Hunan, S Jiangxi [Japan, Vietnam].

The seeds are rich in oil, which is used for lubrication and refined soap. The roots and leaves are used in Chinese medicine.