Gardneria insularis Nakai; G. linifolia C. Y. Wu & S. Y. Pao; G. liukiuensis Hatusima; Pseudogardneria nutans (Siebold & Zuccarini) Raciborski.

Lianas or scandent shrubs, to 4 m, glabrous except for calyx and corolla. Branchlets terete. Petiole ca. 5 mm; leaf blade oblong, narrowly oblong, or almost linear, 4--12 X 1--3 cm, flat on both surfaces or abaxially slightly elevated, base obtuse to rounded, apex acuminate, lateral veins 8--10 pairs. Flowers axillary, solitary or paired, 5-merous, usually pendulous. Pedicel 1.5--2 cm, 2-bracteolate near base. Sepals broadly ovate, ca. 1 X 1.5 mm, ciliate. Corolla yellow-white or white; tube 1 mm, inside pubescent; lobes narrowly elliptic, ca. 8 X 3 mm. Stamens inserted at base of corolla tube; anthers oblong, ca. 5 mm, 4-locular. Style short; stigma exserted, apex shallowly 2-cleft. Ovary with 1 ovule per locule. Berries ca. 7 mm in diam., 1-seeded. Fl. Apr-Jul.

Medicinal.

The description is based on specimens from the Chinese mainland. This species was incorrectly called Gardneria angustifolia in vol. 61 of Fl. Reipubl. Pop. Sin. (1992). Material from Japan and Korea, including the type of G. nutans, as well as specimens recently reported from Taiwan (Yang & Peng, Bot. Bull. Acad. Sinica 35: 223--227. 1994), apparently differs from mainland Chinese material by having only 3--6 pairs of lateral veins and pedicels only 7--9 mm. The status of the mainland Chinese material needs further investigation and may be better separated as G. linifolia.

Dense forests, woodlands on limestone; 500--2000 m. Anhui, Guangxi Guizhou, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].