滇藏叶下珠 dian zang ye xia zhu

Phyllanthus simplex Retzius var. tongkinensis Beille.

Shrubs up to 1.5 m tall, monoecious, glabrous throughout; stems terete, brown, much branched; branches 9-26 cm, slightly angular at upper part. Stipules triangular, brown; petiole ca. 1 mm; leaf blade obovate, sometimes elliptic, 5-15 × 4-8 mm, thinly papery or membranous, base broadly cuneate or rounded, apex rounded or obtuse; lateral veins 4-6 pairs, flattened adaxially, slightly elevated. Inflorescences axillary, 1-flowered; pedicels with several bracteoles at base. Male flowers: pedicels ca. 3 mm; sepals 6, oblong, ca. 1 mm, margin entire, membranous, midrib thicker abaxially, persistent in fruit; disk cupular, shallowly undulate at apex; stamens 3; filaments free. Female flowers: pedicels ca. 8 mm; sepals and disk as in male; ovary globose; styles 3, spreading, deeply bifid. Fruiting pedicels 5-10 mm, delicate; capsules globose, 3-4(-5) mm in diam., red, smooth, 3-locular. Seeds trigonous, 2-2.5 × 1.5-2 mm. Fl. Jun-Sep, fr. Jul-Nov.

Open forests, riverside scrub; 800-3000 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Xizang, Yunnan [India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam].