草珊瑚(原亚种) cao shan hu (yuan ya zhong)

Chloranthus dentialatus Cordemoy; C. esquirolii H. Léveillé.

Leaf blade elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, 6-17 × 2-6 cm, leathery, margin sharply coarsely-serrate. Stamen baculate to terete; thecae shorter than connective. Stigma subcapitate. Fruit globose, 3-4 mm in diam. Fl. Jun, fr. Aug-Dec.

Forests, thickets, valleys, ravines, slopes, roadsides, trailsides, grasslands, swamps, streamsides, sandy soil; near sea level to 2000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Cambodia, India, Japan (including Ryukyu Islands), Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam]

Sarcandra chloranthoides Gardner, treated as a synonym of this taxon in FRPS, is a distinctive species restricted to India and Sri Lanka (B. Verdcourt, Kew Bull. 39: 66. 1984).

Used medicinally and for tea.