红背桂(原变种) hong bei gui (yuan bian zhong)

Antidesma bicolor Hasskarl; Excoecaria bicolor (Hasskarl) Zollinger & Hasskarl; E. bicolor var. purpurascens Pax & K. Hoffmann; Sapium cochinchinense (Loureiro) Kuntze.

Leaf blade purple or dark red abaxially.

Thickets, also cultivated. SW Guangxi (Longzhou); cultivated in Fujian, Guangdong (Guangzhou), Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [native to Vietnam; widely cultivated].

This variety is cultivated for ornamental purposes because of the bi-colored leaves. All parts are used as medicine for measles, parotitis, tonsillitis, and lumbar muscle strain.