Salacia polysperma Hu

Climbing shrubs, ca. 5 m tall; branches slender, brown-red when young, brown-gray at maturity, densely lenticellate, lenticels tumorlike, minute. Leaves alternate; petiole thick, up to 1 cm; leaf blade oblong or oblong-elliptic, (8-)10-25 × (2.5-)3-7 cm, thinly leathery, base subrounded to broadly cuneate, margin sinuate, weakly serrulate, apex shortly acuminate; midvein abaxially prominent, adaxially concave, lateral veins 9-11 pairs, obliquely ascendant, reticulate near margin, reticulate veins abaxially convex. Fascicles axillary, many flowered; peduncle up to 1 cm; petiole 5-7 mm. Flowers light green; sepals deltoid-orbicular, up to 1.5 mm, margin erose, apex obtuse; petals suborbicular, recurved. Disk cupular, subpentagonous, ca. 0.5 mm. Stamens 3; filaments very short, inserted at margin of disk; anthers forked, dehiscing horizontally. Ovary mostly concealed in disk; style terete. Berry up to 5 cm in diam., exocarp ligneous when dry, minutely verruciform or smooth, usually 12-seeded. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Oct-Nov.

Guangxi, S Yunnan.

● Montane sparsely wooded valleys; 500-1800 m.

Salacia polysperma subsp. verrucosorugosa H. W. Li.