白木通 bai mu tong

Akebia lobata Decaisne var. australis Diels, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 29: 344. 1901; A. chaffanjonii H. Léveillé; A. trifoliata var. australis (Diels) Rehder; A. trifoliata subsp. australis var. honanensis T. Shimizu; A. trifoliata var. integrifolia T. Shimizu.

Leaflets 3, ovate-oblong to ovate, 4--7 × 1.5--3(--5) cm, leathery, base rounded, broadly cuneate, truncate, or cordate, margin usually entire, very rarely irregularly sinuate, apex narrowly rounded, slightly emarginate, and cuspidate. Racemes axillary on short branches. Male flowers: sepals 3, purple, broadly elliptic to elliptic, 2--3 mm. Stamens red to purplish red when fresh, brown to pale brown when dry, ca. 2.5 mm. Female flowers: sepals dark purple, 9--12 × 7--10 mm. Carpels 5--7, purple. Fruit yellowish brown at maturity, 6--8 × 3--5 cm. Seeds blackish brown, ovoid. Fl. Apr--May, fr. Jun--Sep.

* Open forest along valleys, among shrubs on mountain slopes; 300--2100 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, S Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang.