小木通 xiao mu tong

Vines woody. Stems to 6 m; branches shallowly longitudinally 10--16-grooved, sparsely puberulous, glabrescent; scales of axillary buds ovate, triangular, or oblong, 0.8--2 cm, puberulous, abaxially longitudinal veins prominent. Leaves ternate; petiole 3.6--11 cm, basally sparsely puberulous or glabrous; leaflet blades narrowly ovate, lanceolate, or ovate, 5--16 × 1.5--7 cm, leathery, both surfaces glabrous, base rounded, subcordate, or broadly cuneate, margin entire, apex acuminate to attenuate; basal veins abaxially prominent. Cymes 1- to many flowered, from axillary buds of old branches, rarely from leaf axils of current year’s branches; peduncle 0.4--8 cm, puberulous or glabrous; bracts narrowly oblong to linear, 0.7--2 cm, undivided or sometimes 3-lobed. Flowers 2--8 cm in diam. Pedicel 1.8--7 cm, sparsely puberulous or glabrous. Sepals 4(--6), white or pinkish, spreading, narrowly oblong, obovate-oblong, or oblong, 1.2--4.7 × 0.2--2 cm, abaxially sparsely puberulous or glabrous, adaxially glabrous, margin abaxially velutinous to puberulous, apex obtuse to rounded. Stamens 6--11 mm, glabrous; anthers narrowly oblong to linear, 3--4.5 mm, apex minutely apiculate or obtuse. Ovaries pubescent. Style 6--8 mm, densely villous. Achenes narrowly ovate to elliptic-ovate, 4--5 × 2--2.6 mm, sparsely pubescent; persistent style 1.6--4.8 cm, white plumose. Fl. Mar--Apr, fr. Apr--Jul.

Forests, forest margins, slopes, scrub, along streams; 100--2400 m. Fujian, S Gansu, N Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, E Xizang, Yunnan, S Zhejiang [N Myanmar].