山马钱 shan ma qian

Strychnos nux-vomica Linnaeus var. grandifolia Dop; S. nux-blanda var. hirsuta Hill.

Trees to 15 m tall. Branchlets glabrous or glabrescent. Petiole 1--1.5 cm; leaf blade broadly ovate, elliptic, or suborbicular, 9--22 X 7--16 cm, papery, glabrous, base rounded, apex acute to acuminate, basal veins 5--7. Thyrses axillary, 4--6 cm; bracteoles puberulent. Flowers 5-merous. Pedicel puberulent. Calyx lobes narrowly oblong, 1.5--2 mm, outside puberulent. Corolla white, salverform, 1.2 cm; tube ca. 9 mm, outside villous near base; lobes narrowly elliptic, ca. 3 mm, outside glandular. Stamens inserted at corolla mouth; filaments very short; anthers subovate, ca. 2 mm, apex exserted. Ovary ovoid, glabrous. Style to 1.2 cm, glabrous; stigma capitate. Berries globose, 6--8 cm in diam., 4--15-seeded. Seeds ovoid, suborbicular, or ellipsoid, 1.5--2.2 X 1.3--2 cm, plano-compressed. Fl. Mar-Jun, fr. Aug-Dec.

300--600 m. Cultivated in S and SW Guangdong [Native in Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam].