当归藤 dang gui teng

Embelia myrtifolia Hemsley & Mez; Embelia pulchella Mez; Ribesiodes parviflorum (Wallich ex A. de Candolle) Kuntze; Samara parviflora (Wallich ex A. de Candolle) Kurz.

Shrubs scandent, villous-tomentose on branchlets, petioles, pedicels, and inflorescences, otherwise villous. Branchlets terete, 2.5-3 mm in diam., sparsely lenticellate, glandular. Petiole canaliculate, 0.5-1 mm; leaf blade ovate or broadly so, 1-1.5(-2.5) × 0.6-1(-1.3) cm, papery, glossy, glabrous, sparsely red punctate near apex, villous or scaly abaxially, base broadly rounded to truncate or cordate, margin entire, apex obtuse or rounded; midrib impressed adaxially; lateral veins inconspicuous. Inflorescences axillary, staminate usually cymose, 7-10(-15) mm, (1-)2-4(-6)-flowered; pistillate usually subumbellate, 4-7(-10) mm, (2-)3-5-flowered; bisexual fasicled, 3-5(-7) mm, 3-8-flowered, pendulous; bracts lanceolate to subulate, 0.6-1 mm, red punctate, densely villous. Flowers white or greenish white, 5-merous, membranous, staminate 2.5-3 mm, pistillate 1.8-2.3 mm, bisexual 2-2.5 mm. Pedicel 3-8 mm in staminate, 2-5 in pistillate, 0.5-1.5 mm in bisexual. Sepals ovate, subdeltate, or oblong, densely red punctate, glabrous except sparsely villous basally, margin entire, glandular ciliate. Petals free, ovate, lanceolate, or oblong, papery, glabrous outside, red or black punctate, densely red glandular granulose inside, margin glandular ciliate, apex obtuse or emarginate. Stamens slightly longer than petals in staminate flowers, ca. 3/4 petal length in bisexual flowers; anthers broadly ovate in staminate, ovate in bisexual, and lanceolate in pistillate flowers, base cordate, apex acute or slightly emarginate, connective densely black punctate. Style sparsely glandular papillate basally; stigma capitate, 4-lobed. Fruit dull red, globose, 3-5 mm in diam., red punctate-lineate. Fl. Dec-May, fr. Jan-Nov.

Dense mixed forests, evergreen broad-leaved forests, shrubby areas, hillsides, humus-rich soil, shady places; 300-1800(-2200) m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam]

Embelia pulchella is tentatively placed in the synonymy of E. parviflora. It differs in being red punctate and hairy on the petals, ovary, and fruit, and in having hirsute leaf midrib. It might represent an infraspecific taxon of E. parviflora.