琉球九节木 liu qiu jiu jie mu

Shrubs to 2(-6) m tall; stems glabrous. Petiole 0.5-3.6 cm, glabrous; leaf blade drying thinly leathery, reddish brown to reddish gray, elliptic-oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or obovate-elliptic, 9-18.7[-20.5] × 3-8 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, base acute to cuneate, margins flat to thinly revolute, apex acute or shortly acuminate; secondary veins [6 or]7-12 pairs, free or usually forming a looping submarginal vein, sometimes with foveolate domatia; stipules caducous, triangular to ovate, interpetiolar, 3-6[-10] mm, glabrous, acute to obtuse. Inflorescences terminal or pseudoaxillary, cymose, glabrous [to puberulent], pedunculate; peduncle [0.1-]0.5-3.5 cm; branched portion corymbiform to broadly pyramidal, 2.5-6 × 3-7 cm; bracts triangular to broadly triangular, 0.3-1.5[-5.8] mm, those subtending flowers 0.3-1.2 mm; pedicels to 2 mm. Flowers sessile to pedicellate. Calyx glabrous; hypanthium portion obconic, 0.8-1 mm; limb 0.5-0.8 mm, lobed for ca. 1/2; lobes broadly triangular. Corolla white, tubular-funnelform, glabrous outside; tube ca. 2[-4] mm, densely villous in throat; lobes triangular, ca. 2 mm. Drupes red or purple, ellipsoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, 8-12[-15] × 5-6 mm; pyrenes 3- or 4-ribbed. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug.

Broad-leaved forests; near sea level [to 900 m in the Philippines]. Taiwan (Lan Yu) [Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Philippines].

Measurements included here in brackets were reported by Sohmer and Davis (Sida, Bot. Misc. 27: 138-142. 2007) for Philippine plants of this species.