弯梗菝葜 wan geng ba qia

Smilax tsaii F. T. Wang.

Subshrubs or shrubs, suberect, unarmed. Stem branched, 0.5--2 m, smooth. Petiole 0.7--1.5 cm, papillose distally, winged for ca. 1/3 its length; abscission zone subapical; tendrils absent. Leaf blade elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 7--12 × 2.5--6.5 cm, abaxially papillose-pubescent or powdery-scabrous particularly on reticulate veins. Inflorescence borne in axil of leaf or scalelike bract on young branches, of 1 umbel, basally not prophyllate; peduncle 4--6.5 cm; umbels of both sexes 5--20-flowered. Male flowers: tepals greenish yellow or pale purple, 2--2.5 × ca. 1 mm; stamens very short. Female flowers: tepals grayish white, 1.5--2 × ca. 0.8 mm; staminodes 6. Berries globose, 8--11 mm in diam.; carpopodium recurved. Fl. Mar--Apr, fr. Dec.

Forests, thickets, shaded places along streams; near sea level to 1600 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan [Vietnam].