Sabia dumicola W. W. Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 10: 63. 1917; S. acuminata L. Chen; S. parvifolia L. Chen.

Woody climbers, 2-6 m, deciduous. Branches green, slender, striate, glabrous; bud scales broadly ovoid, glabrous. Petiole 2-4 mm; leaf blade oblong-ovate or narrowly ovate, 1.5-6 × 1-3 cm, membranous, both surfaces glabrous, lateral veins 3 or 4 pairs, ascending, arched-anastomosing, reticulate veins sparse, base broadly cuneate or rounded, apex acute or acuminate. Cymes 3-12-flowered, 1-3 cm. Flowers appearing at same time as leaves, 3-5 mm in diam. Sepals 5, slightly unequal, ovate or suborbicular, 0.5-1 mm. Petals 5, purple-green, purple, or dark red, with red dots distally, elliptic or ovate, 2-4 × 1.5-2 mm, 5-veined, apex obtuse or rounded. Stamens ca. 1 mm; filaments flattened; anthers introrse or extrorse. Disk cup-shaped, deeply lobed to near base, fleshy. Pistil ca. 1 mm; ovary glabrous. Schizocarp subobovoid, 5-7 mm; endocarp with prominent midrib, with foveolate. Fl. May, fr. Jul-Aug.

Sabia purpurea subsp. purpurea is distributed in W Bangladesh, Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand.

● Dense forests, valleys, streamsides; 1700-2700 m. W Yunnan.