朴莱木 po lai mu

Canthium cumingii Vidal; Plectronia cumingii (Vidal) Merrill; P. gynochthodes (Baillon) Merrill; P. moluccana Merrill; P. umbellata K. Schumann.

Small trees, height not noted, often rather succulent; branches flattened becoming subterete, glabrous. Petiole 1-5 mm, glabrous; leaf blade drying thinly leathery, elliptic to elliptic-oblong or obovate, 3-8 × 1.5-5 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, base acute to obtuse, apex obtuse to shortly acute; secondary veins 3 or 4 pairs, in abaxial axils with foveolate and sometimes also pilosulous domatia; stipules persistent, shortly united around stem, triangular to ovate, 2-4.5 mm, glabrous, aristate to cuspidate. Inflorescences glabrous, 1-3.5 cm, several flowered; peduncles 0.8-2.5 cm, terminating in a pair of bracteoles, these triangular, ca. 1 mm, shortly fused; pedicels 4-7 mm. Flowers unisexual on dioecious plants. Calyx glabrous; ovary portion of pistillate flowers ca. 1.2 mm; limb ca. 0.5 mm, truncate to undulate. Corolla white to pale green, outside glabrous; tube ca. 1.5 mm; lobes 4, 2-2.5(-6) mm, acute. Ovary 2-celled; stigma ca. 0.3 mm. Drupes orangish yellow, oblate or obovoid to dicoccous, ca. 8 × 10 mm, smooth, glabrous, with calyx limb persistent; pyrenes 2. Fl. Aug.

Forests on mountain ridges. Taiwan [Philippines].

Only very young flower buds have been seen so far from China; the descriptions here of the mature flowers and the fruit are based in large part on the description by Liu and Yang (Fl. Taiwan, ed. 2, 4: 247-248. 1998) and on Philippine specimens. The synonymy here is taken from Merrill (Enum. Philipp. Pl. 3: 536-537. 1923). The accepted species epithet was incorrectly spelled as "gynochodes" by Liu and Yang (loc. cit.: 247).

Canthium dicoccum var. obovatifolium should probably be compared with this species. The variety is poorly known and is here included with the species in which it was described, now called Psydrax dicocca; but its inclusion in that species is questionable, and its description suggests it is very similar to C. gynochthodes.