Achyranthes amaranthoides Lamarck, Encycl. 1: 548. 1785; Cladostachys amaranthoides (Lamarck) K. C. Kuan; C. frutescens D. Don.

Shrubs climbing. Stem 2-6 m tall, often with pendulous branches, hairy when young. Petiole 1-4 cm, glabrous; leaf blade ovate or ovate-lanceolate, at first sparsely villous, glabrescent, base acute, obtuse, rounded, or ovate-subtruncate, apex acuminate or acute, often unequal. Racemes axillary and terminal, arranged into complex thyrsoid structures; rachis pubescent. Bracts narrowly triangular, ca. 1.5 mm; bracteoles ovate, ca. 1 mm. Pedicel 2-3 mm. Flowers broadly spreading or reflexed at anthesis, glabrous, apex ?obtuse. Tepals light green or somewhat yellowish, tinged red in fruit, 1.5-2.5 mm. Filaments connate into a cup at base; stigmas 3, terete, reflexed in fruit. Berry red, globose, 4-7 mm in diam. Seeds 1-6, black, shiny, compressed-reniform. Fl. and fr. Oct-Mar. 2n = 16.

Hillsides; 100-2200 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia].