棱果海桐 ling guo hai tong

Shrubs. Young branchlets glabrous except young buds pubescent; old branchlets gray, lenticellate. Leaves clustered at branchlet apex, biennial; petiole ca. 1 cm; leaf blade green and shiny adaxially, pale green abaxially, obovate or oblong-lanceolate, 7–14 × 2.5–4 cm, leathery, glabrous, lateral veins ca. 6-paired, indistinct on both surfaces, base narrowly cuneate, margin flat, apex acute. Inflorescences 3–5, terminal, corymbose, many flowered; pedicels slender, 1–2.5 cm, glabrous. Sepals ovate, ca. 2 mm, margin ciliate. Petals free or partly connate, ca. 1.2 cm. Stamens ca. 8 mm. Pistil equaling stamens; ovary pubescent; placentas 3, parietal; ovules 9–15. Capsule usually solitary, ellipsoid, becoming triangular or globose after drying, 2.5–2.7 × 1–1.2 cm, pubescent; pedicel ca. 1 cm; stipe less than 2 mm; persistent style ca. 3 mm. Funicle compressed, ca. 2 mm. Fl. Mar–May, fr. Jun–Oct.

Forests, forest margins, thickets, slopes, valleys, river sides; 400--2000 m. NE Guangxi (Lingui Xian), S Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan.

The roots and bark can be used medicinally for the treatment of asthma.