桑寄生 sang ji sheng

Shrubs 0.5-1 m tall, young stems tomentose, becoming glabrous, hairs brown or reddish brown or gray, stellate, sometimes also some scattered verticillate hairs. Branches black, lenticellate. Leaves subopposite or alternate; petiole 6-12 mm, glabrous; leaf blade ovate, ovate-oblong, or elliptic, 5-8 × 3-4.5 cm, abaxial surface persistently tomentose, adaxial surface rapidly glabrescent, lateral veins 4 or 5 pairs, base rounded, apex obtuse. Subumbellate racemes solitary or 2- or 3-fascicled, axis short but distinct, sometimes at leafless nodes, 2-5-flowered; peduncle 1-3 mm, tomentose; bracts ovate, ca. 1 mm, apex acute. Pedicel 2-3 mm. Calyx ellipsoid, 2-3 mm, limb annular, minutely 4-toothed. Mature bud 2.2-2.8 cm, tip ellipsoid. Corolla red, slightly curved, pubescent with adpressed stellate hairs, basal part inflated, lobes lanceolate, 6-9 mm, reflexed. Filaments ca. 2 mm; anthers 3-4 mm, multilocellate. Style red; stigma cone-shaped. Berry greenish yellow, ellipsoid, 6-7 × 3-4 mm, granulose, pilose. Fl. Jun-Sep.

* Forests, mountain slopes, valleys; 500-1900 m. Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang.

A traditional Chinese medicine “sang ji sheng” is made from the plants. Recorded hosts include species of Aceraceae, Anacardiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, Juglandaceae, Moraceae, Rosaceae, Rutaceae, Salicaceae, Symplocaceae, Theaceae, and rarely Taxodiaceae.