Villebrunea boniana Gagnepain, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 4: 129. 1928.

Shrubs ca. 2 m tall; branchlets and petioles dark brown, sparsely appressed pubescent, then glabrescent. Stipules lanceolate, 0.5-0.7 cm; petiole 0.5-1 cm; leaf blade abaxially light green, adaxially dark green, lanceolate, 3-8 × 1-2 cm, membranous, 3-veined, basal-lateral pair reaching middle, anastomosing with proximal pair of secondary veins, secondary veins 2 or 3 pairs, abaxial surface pubescent on veins, adaxial surface subglabrous, base rounded or subcordate, margin entire basally, regularly crenulate apically, apex acuminate or long acuminate. Inflorescences in axils of fallen leaves and older branches, dichotomously branched 1 or 2 times, 0.4-0.6 cm; glomerules 2-3 mm in diam. Male flowers: perianth lobes 3, ca. 0.7 mm; rudimentary ovary clavate. Female flowers ca. 1 mm. Achene ovoid, compressed, ca. 1.5 mm, smooth, surrounded by a fleshy discoid cupule at base. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Jun-Sep.

Shady places in forests on limestone, thickets, valleys; 100-300 m. SE Yunnan [N Vietnam].