无柄五层龙 wu bing wu ceng long

Shrubs, to 4 m tall; branchlets dark gray, with verruciform lenticels. Petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 10-15 × 3.5-5 cm, thinly leathery, shiny, base rounded or broadly cuneate, margin weakly serrulate, apex acuminate to subacute; lateral veins 8 or 9 pairs, abaxially permanent, reticulate veins horizontally spreading. Fascicles axillary, few flowered; pedicel very short, ca. 1 mm. Flowers light green; sepals ca. 1 mm, ovate, margin ciliolate, apex subacute; petals oblong, ca. 2 mm, apex subacute. Disk cupular, less than 1 mm tall. Stamens 3; filaments short, flat, inserted at margin of disk; anthers nephroid. Ovary concealed in disk, 3-loculed; style robust, conical, ca. 0.5 mm. Berry orange-yellow to orange-red, 2(-4.5) cm in diam., exocarp thinly leathery when dry, 3- or 4-seeded. Fl. Jun, fr. Oct.

● Mountainous bosks; (200-)600-1600 m. Guangdong (Lianxian), Guangxi, Guizhou (N to Guanling), S Hunan, SE Yunnan.

The fruits of this species are slightly sweet and edible.