胡颓子 hu tui zi

Shrubs, evergreen, 3-4 m tall, densely branched. Spines frequent; young branches densely brown scaly. Petiole robust, 5-15 mm, rugose, brown scaly; leaf blade oblong to narrowly so, 5-10 × 1.8-3.5 cm, leathery, abaxially with dense whitish and usually also brown scales, adaxially glabrous and glossy, lateral veins 7-9 per side of midrib, base rounded, margin obsoletely toothed with prominently undulate margins, apex obtuse to bluntly acute. Flowers few, clustered in axils. Pedicel 5-8 mm, brown scaly. Calyx tube funnelform, rather broad, 6-7 mm, abruptly narrowed at base; lobes ovate, ca. 1/2 as long as tube, apex rounded. Drupe oblong, 1.2-1.5 cm, brown scaly. Fl. Sep-Dec, fr. Apr-Jun.

Open slopes, roadsides or thickets, often near the sea; below 1000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang [Japan].