罗定野桐 luo ding ye tong

Mallotus barbatus Müller Argoviensis var. congestus F. P. Metcalf, Lingnan Sci. J. 10: 487. 1931.

Shrubs 1-2 m tall. Branchlets, petiole, and inflorescences densely yellowish-brownish stellate-tomentose. Stipules narrowly lanceolate, 3-4 mm, tomentose; petiole 10-14 cm; leaf blade ovate-rounded, often tricuspidate or shortly 1-lobed, 15-18 × 13-15 cm, papery, abaxially stellate-tomentose, base obtuse, broadly peltate, with 4 basal glands, margin repand- denticulate, apex acute or acuminate; basal veins 5-7. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, branched or unbranched, 15-30 cm; peduncle 7-8 cm, stout; bracts linear, 3-5 mm. Male flowers 2- or 3-fascicled; pedicel 3-4 mm; calyx lobes 3-5, ovate, 3.5-4 mm, pubescent; stamens 35-40. Female flowers: pedicel 1-2 mm; sepals 5, triangular, ca. 2 mm, tomentulose; ovary tomentose; styles 3, ca. 4 mm, plumose. Infructescence elongated, 28-45 cm. Fruiting pedicel 1-3 mm; capsule subglobose, 12-15 mm in diam., stellate-pubescent and softly spiny, forming a continuous uniform layer, spines subulate, 3-5 mm, with white stellate-pubescence. Seeds ovoid, ca. 6 mm, black, smooth. Fl. May-Nov, fr. Jun-Dec.

● Mountain valleys or slopes, hills, forests, thickets; 200-500 m. NW Guangdong, SE Guangxi.