刺果叶下珠 ci guo ye xia zhu

Phyllanthus echinocarpus T. L. Chin.

Shrubs ca. 20 cm tall, monoecious, glabrous except for hispidulous female pedicels; branchlets terete, delicate. Leaves distichous; stipules membranous, ovate-lanceolate, 1.2-2 mm; petiole ca. 1 mm; leaf blade suborbicular to oblong, 1-2 × 0.6-1 cm, usually largest along middle of branchlet, smaller toward base and apex, thinly papery, adaxially green, abaxially glaucous-green, base rounded or obtuse, apex rounded and apiculate; lateral veins 4-7 pairs, obscure. Inflorescence an axillary fascicle, male flowers several, female solitary. Male flowers: pedicels ca. 2 mm; sepals 4, ovate-lanceolate, ca. 2.5 mm, purple, margin irregularly serrulate; disk glands 4, linear-oblong; stamens 2; filaments very short, connate; anthers free, connectives slightly elevated. Female flowers: pedicels 1-2 cm; sepals 6, 2-seriate, ovate-lanceolate, ca. 6 mm, apex with awn-shaped acumen, margin irregularly serrulate; disk disk-shaped, 6-lobed at apex, lobes rounded; ovary ovoid, with dense, soft, ca. 0.5 mm prickles; styles 3, connate at base, bifid at apex, lobes subulate. Capsules globose, ca. 7 mm in diam., with dense, soft prickles. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Oct.

● Scrub; 300-3300 m. Guizhou, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan.