Maesa ramentacea (Roxb.) A. DC., Prodr. 8: 77 77 (1844)

Synonyms
Baeobotrys ramentacea Roxburgh

Description
Shrubs or rarely trees, 1.5-3(-5) m tall. Branchlets angular, glabrous, minutely lenticellate; pith solid. Petiole ca. 1 cm; leaf blade ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, 8-16 x 2.5-5.5 cm, papery, glabrous, base rounded, obtuse, to broadly cuneate, margin entire or undulate, apex acute or long acuminate; lateral veins 5-8 on each side of midrib, not united into marginal vein. Inflorescences axillary or sometimes subterminal, paniculate, many branched, 4-10 cm, minutely glandular granulose; bracts subulate or ovate; bracteoles broadly ovate or triangular, sparsely ciliate. Flowers white, ca. 2 mm. Pedicel 1-2 mm. Calyx lobes united ca. 1/2 their length, ovate or broadly so, glabrous, ciliate, not punctate, apex obtuse or rounded. Corolla united into a short tube, ca. 1.5 mm, not punctate, glabrous; lobes as long as tube, reniform or orbicular, rounded, margin undulate. Stamens inserted on distal part of corolla tube, included, rudimentary in pistillate flowers; anthers orbicular or reniform. Style very short, thick; stigma minutely 4-lobed. Fruit yellowish, globose, 2-3 mm, orange punctate-lineate or veined.

Ecology
In sparse broad-leaved forests, mountain slopes, stream banks, shady places, along trails; up to 1700 m elevation.

Uses

Distribution
From India and southern China into Indochina and western Indonesia.

Local names
China: Cheng gan shu.