火绳藤 huo sheng teng

Melodorum poilanei Jovet-Ast, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 9: 82. 1940.

Climbers to 7 m tall. Branches sparsely puberulent when young, glabrous and lenticellate with age. Petiole 1-1.5 cm, pubescent; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 6.5-16 × 2-4.5 cm, leathery to thickly papery, abaxially densely grayish brown pubescent, adaxially glabrous except for sparsely puberulent midvein, secondary veins 14-20 on each side of midvein, obliquely ascending, and adaxially flat, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences leaf-opposed or subopposed, cymose, 2-8-flowered; peduncle 1-3 mm. Pedicel 7-8 mm, ochraceous pubescent, 1- or 2-bracteolate at base to middle. Flower buds broadly ovoid, 4-5 × 4-5 mm. Sepals ovate-triangular, ca. 2 × 2 mm, outside puberulent, inside glabrous. Outer petals ovate-triangular, ca. 9 × 6 mm, outside ochraceous pubescent, inside apically puberulent; inner petals ovate-oblong, ca. 7 × 4 mm, outside pubescent, inside glabrous. Stamens oblong, ca. 1.5 mm; connectives obliquely 3-angular. Carpels oblong, ca. 3 mm, densely hispid; ovules ca. 8 per carpel, in 2 series; stigma apex 2-cleft. Fruiting monocarps globose, ca. 2 cm in diam. Fl. Mar-Dec, fr. Jun-Apr.

Sparsely forested slopes, usually in valleys; 700-1000 m. S and SE Yunnan [Vietnam].

The basionym, Melodorum poilanei, was first published in 1938 (Fl. Indo-Chine Suppl. 1: 109) but not validly so.