簕茜 le qian

Oxyceros sinensis Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 1: 151. 1790; Aidia sinensis (Loureiro) Masamune; Fagerlindia sinensis (Loureiro) Tirvengadum; Randia sinensis (Loureiro) Schultes.

Shrubs or small trees, sometimes scandent, many branched, 1-7 m tall; branches compressed to terete, rather stout, yellowish brown hirtellous or -pilosulous, with thorns 4-15 mm. Petiole 5-15 mm, yellowish hirtellous to -pilosulous or glabrescent; leaf blade drying papery to thickly papery, ovate-elliptic, elliptic-oblong, or ovate, 2-21 × 1.5-9.5 cm, adaxially glabrous, abaxially glabrescent to strigillose, hirtellous, or pilosulous at least on principal veins, base cuneate or slightly rounded, apex acute or shortly acuminate; secondary veins 5-8 pairs, in abaxial axils with pilosulous domatia; stipules triangular to narrowly triangular, 3-5 mm, strigillose to pilosulous, hirtellous, or glabrescent, long acuminate. Inflorescences congested-cymose, often umbelliform, several to many flowered, 2.5-4 × 3-4.5 cm, densely pilosulous to strigose or strigillose; peduncle 3-5 mm; bracts lanceolate to ovate, 1.5-2.5 mm, acute to acuminate; pedicels 0.5-1.5 mm. Calyx densely strigose to strigillose; ovary portion ellipsoid to cylindrical, 1-1.2 mm; limb 3-4 mm, shallowly to deeply lobed; lobes narrowly triangular or ovate-triangular, 1-4 mm, acute. Corolla white or yellow, outside puberulent to glabrous; tube (12-)15-24 × 1-4 mm; lobes elliptic-oblong to oblanceolate, 5-9 × 4-4.5 mm, acute. Fruiting pedicels to 5 mm. Berry globose, 8-12 mm in diam., pilosulous to strigillose or glabrous; seeds ca. 5 mm. Fl. Mar-Dec, fr. May-Feb.

Forests, forest margins, or thickets on hills, on mountains, or in fields; near sea level to 1200 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Japan, ?Thailand (Larsen et al. 43560, MO!), Vietnam].

The shorter measurements here are taken from W. C. Chen (in FRPS 71(1): 345-346. 1999); the specimens studied all have corolla tubes 15-24 mm.