仪花 yi hua

Shrubs or small trees, 2-5 m tall, rarely more than 10 m tall. Petiolules short, 2-3 mm; leaflets oblong or ovate-lan­ceolate, 5-16 × 2-6.5 cm, papery, lateral veins subparallel, slender, evident on both surfaces, base rounded, apex caudate-acuminate. Panicles 20-40 cm; rachis, bracts, and bracteoles sparsely puberulent; bracts and bracteoles pink, ovate-oblong or elliptic, bracts 1.2-2.8 × 0.5-1.4 cm, bracteoles small, 2-5 mm. Calyx tube 1.2-1.5 cm, much longer than lobes (8-10 mm); lobes dark purplish red, oblong. Petals purplish red, broadly obovate, ca. 1.2 cm including claw, apex rounded, emarginate. Anthers ca. 4 mm; staminodes usually 4, subulate. Ovary hairy, 6-9-ovuled; style slender, hairy. Legume obovoid-oblong, 12-20 cm, sutures unequal in length, ventral suture longer and curved, dehiscent; valves often spirally twisted. Seeds 2-7, brownish red, oblong, 2.2-2.5 × 1.2-1.5 cm, margin not thickened; testa thinner and fragile, surface slightly wrinkled, inside without gelatin. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Sep-Nov. 2n = 24*.

Mountain slopes, jungles, among bushes, near roads, along valleys by streams; below 500 m. Guangdong, Guangxi (Longzhou), Guizhou, Yunnan [Vietnam; introduced in tropical Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, and United States (Florida)].

The roots, stems, and leaves are somewhat toxic. They are used medicinally to relieve pain from rheumatism and arthritis and for detumescence.