锡叶藤 xi ye teng

Delima sarmentosa Linnaeus, Gen. Pl., ed. 5, App. 1754 ["sparmentosa"]; Seguieria asiatica Loureiro; Tetracera asiatica (Loureiro) Hoogland; T. levinei Merrill.

Evergreen woody climbers to 20 m, ramose. Branchlets scabrous, hairy when young, later glabrous. Petiole 1-1.5 cm, pubescent; leaf blade orbicular, 4-12 × 2-5 cm, leathery, very scabrous, setose when young, later abaxial surface glabrous or only veins pubescent, with protuberance, secondary veins 10-15, obviously prominent on abaxial surface, base broadly cuneate or approximately rounded, usually oblique, margin entire or finely serrate distally, apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes
slightly acute. Panicles terminal, 6-25 cm, many flowered; peduncle pubescent, zigzag. Flowers 6-8 mm in diam. Sepals 5, free, broadly ovate, 4-5 mm, unequal, persistent in fruit, apex obtuse, glabrous or occasionally sparsely hairy, ciliate. Petals 3, white, ovate, as long as sepals. Stamens numerous, shorter than sepals. Carpels 1(or 2), glabrous; style longer than stamens. Follicles ca. 1 cm, orange, pericarp thinly leathery and slightly bright when dry, with persistent style. Seed 1, black; aril yellow, fringed, enclosing base of seeds. Fl. Apr-May.

Sparse forests, thickets, barren hills. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan [India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand].