Loranthus atropurpureus Blume, Verh. Batav. Genootsch. Kunsten 9: 186. 1823; Cichlanthus philippensis (Chamisso & Schlechtendal) Tieghem; Loranthus philippensis Chamisso & Schlechtendal; L. philippensis var. macroantherus Lecomte; Scurrula philippensis (Chamisso & Schlechtendal) G. Don.

Shrubs 0.7-1 m tall, young branchlets, leaves, inflorescences, and flowers with dense pale grayish, yellowish, or yellowish brown, uniformly long, verticillate hairs, at least some dendritic hairs. Branches grayish, glabrous, scattered lenticellate. Leaves opposite; petiole 7-10 mm, pilose; leaf blade ovate or oblong, 5-10 × (2.3-)3-6 cm, thinly leathery or papery, abaxial surface minutely tomentose, adaxial surface glabrous, lateral veins 4 or 5 pairs, base broadly cuneate to obtuse, apex acute or obtuse. Racemes solitary or 2- or 3-fascicled, axillary, sometimes at leafless nodes, 5-9-flowered; peduncle 5-8 mm; bracts ovate-triangular, ca. 1 mm. Flowers densely alternate. Pedicel 1.5-2.5 mm. Calyx pyriform, ca. 2.5 mm, limb annular, entire or 4-denticulate. Mature bud tubular, [1.1-]2.2-2.5 cm, tip ellipsoid. Corolla red, curved, apical portion slightly inflated, lobes lanceolate, 6-8 mm, reflexed. Filaments ca. 1 mm; anthers 2.5-3 mm. Stigma subglobose. Berry greenish, pyriform, ca. 8 × 3.5 mm, pilose. Fl. Jun-Oct, fr. Sep-Dec.

The indumentum of this species is distinctive; it is very pale brown or cream, with a mixture of long and short dendritic hairs, the long ones obviously overtopping the shorter hairs. Barlow (Blumea 36: 70. 1991) included Scurrula philippensis within S. atropurpurea, described from Java. Specimens from Indonesia and the Philippines have rather shorter flowers, (11–)13–20(–24) mm, than those from the Flora area (22–25 mm), and it is possible that the Chinese material is separable at infraspecific rank.

Forests on mountain slopes; 1000-2900 m. NW Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan [Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam].