筒被菝葜 tong bei ba qia

Heterosmilax erecta F. T. Wang & T. Tang; Smilax corbularia Kunth subsp. synandra (Gagnepain) T. Koyama.

Shrubs suberect to subscandent, unarmed. Stem and branches slightly 4-angled. Petiole 5--10 mm, narrowly winged for ca. 1/2 its length; wings each with a lanceolate auricle apicaly; abscission zone apical; tendrils absent. Leaf blade abaxially glaucous, oblong or ovate-oblong, 6--15 × 1.2--7 cm, papery, abaxially minutely white powdery. Inflorescence of 1 umbel, basally not prophyllate; peduncle compressed, slender, 1.2--1.5 cm; umbels of both sexes 10--20-flowered, base thickened; bracteoles lanceolate. Male flowers: outer tepals 2--2.5 mm, connate for ca. 1/2 their length, forming a tube, inner ones adnate to filaments; filaments connate, forming a column. Female flowers: perianth tubular-campanulate, 2.5--3 mm, apically with 3 obtuse teeth and 3 abortive inner tepals; staminodes 3. Fl. Jan.

Wastelands, grassy slopes; near sea level to 1000 m. Guangdong, Hainan, SE Yunnan [Thailand, Vietnam].