定心藤 ding xin teng

Mappianthus tomentosus D. Fang.

Young branches dark brown, yellowish brown strigose, angular; branchlets gray, terete, glabrescent, with gray-white, orbicular or oblong lenticels. Petiole terete, 0.6-1.4 cm, adaxially narrowly grooved, yellow-brown strigose; leaf blade abaxially brown-yellow to purple-red, adaxially olive green, narrowly elliptic to oblong, rarely lanceolate, 8-17 × 3-7 cm, glabrescent or abaxially slightly hairy, midvein prominent abaxially, narrowly grooved adaxially, lateral veins 3-6, usually 5 pairs, arcuate ascending, prominent abaxially, reticulate veins slender, prominent abaxially, base rounded or cuneate, apex acuminate or caudate, caudae rounded. Staminate cymes alternate and axillary, 1-2.5 cm; peduncle ca. 1 cm, yellow-brown strigose; bractlets rather small. Staminate flowers fragrant, light green, globose to oblong in bud; pedicel 1-2 mm, ca. 0.5 mm in diam.; calyx 1.5-2 mm; lobes subacute, outside densely yellow-brown strigose, inside glabrous; corolla yellow, 4-6 mm, 5-lobed; lobes ovate, outside densely yellow strigose, inside tomentulose, apices incurved; filaments orange-yellow when dried, 3-4 mm; anthers yellow, ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm; ovary undeveloped, ca. 2 mm; style 2-3 mm. Pistillate cymes alternately axillary, 1-1.5 cm, thick, yellow-brown strigose; bractlets shorter than 1 mm; peduncle 5-8 mm. Pistillate flowers ovoid in bud; pedicel 2-10 mm, 1-2 mm in diam.; calyx shallowly cupular, 1-1.5 mm, 5-lobed; lobes triangular, outside densely yellow-brown strigose, apex obtuse; petals 5, oblong, 3-4 mm, outside densely yellow-brown strigose, inside tomentulose, apices incurved; reduced stamens ca. 2 mm; filaments flat-filiform, ca. 1.5 mm; anthers ovoid-triangular, ca. 0.5 mm; ovary subglobose, ca. 2 mm, densely yellow-brown somewhat rigidly strigose; style very short or absent; stigma discoid, rounded, 5-lobed. Drupe from light green or yellow-green to orange-yellow or orange-red, ellipsoid, 2-3.7 × 1-1.7 cm, sparsely yellow-brown somewhat rigidly strigose, base with persistent, slightly accrescent calyx. Fl. Apr-Aug, fr. Jun-Dec.

Sparse woods, scrub, valley forests; 700-1900 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [N Vietnam].

The fruit is edible; the roots and ripe stems are used medicinally.