Nigrina spicata Thunberg, Nov. Gen. Pl. 59. 1783; Chloranthus inconspicuus Swartz.

Subshrubs erect or slightly prostrate, 30-60 cm tall. Stems terete, glabrous. Leaves opposite; petioles 0.8-1.8 cm, base ± connate; leaf blade elliptic or obovate-elliptic, 5-11 × 2.5-5.5 cm, thickly papery, glandular mucronate, pale yellowish green abaxially, deep green and shiny adaxially, base cuneate, margin crenate-serrate, apex acute or obtuse; lateral veins 6-8 pairs, slightly prominent on both surfaces. Spikes arranged in panicles, usually terminal, rarely axillary; bracts triangular. Flowers yellowish green, small, very fragrant. Stamens 3; connectives confluent and ovate, apical part irregularly 3-lobed; central lobe larger, sometimes apex shallowly 3-lobed again, with 2-loculed anther sacs; lateral lobes smaller, each with a 1-loculed anther. Ovary obovoid. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 30.

Used for ornamental, aromatic, and medicinal purposes.

Forests; 200-1000 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, ?Hebei, Sichuan, Yunnan [Japan, Thailand, widely cultivated throughout SE Asia]