东南南蛇藤 dong nan nan she teng

Celastrus articulatus Thunberg var. punctatus (Thunberg) Rehder; C. geminiflorus Hayata; C. gracillimus Hayata; C. leiocarpus Hayata; C. longeracemosus Hayata; C. punctatus var. microphyllus Li & Ding Hou.

Deciduous twining shrubs; branchlets tenuous, spreading, glabrous; axillary buds small, ovate, ca. 2 mm; apex of outer scales acute, spinelike. Petiole 2-8 mm; leaf blade elliptic, oblong, broadly elliptic, or rectangular-elliptic, rarely obovate-elliptic, 1.5-7 × 1-3 cm, papery or thickly papery, glabrous, base cuneate, margin serrulate or obtusely serrate, apex acute or shortly acuminate; secondary veins (3 or)4 or 5 pairs. Inflorescences generally axillary, terminal inflorescences occurring in male plants, 1- or 2-flowered or more flowers in a small cyme, somewhat racemose-monochasial; pedicels 3-5 mm, jointed above middle. Male flowers: sepals elliptic, 1-1.2 mm, margin unequally serrulate; petals oblanceolate to obovate-rectangular, ca. 4.5 × 1.5 mm; disk deeply lobed, lobe elliptic; filament slightly flat, ca. 3.5 mm; anther broadly rectangular, apex abrupt; staminodia undeveloped. Female flowers unknown. Capsule globose, 5.5-7 mm wide, valves orbicular. Seeds broadly elliptic, ca. 3.5 × 2 mm, brown or brownish. Fl. Mar-May, fr. May-Oct.

Forests, valleys, slopes; 100-2300 m. Anhui, Fujian, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan].