Myrsine africana var.
acuminata C. Y. Wu & C. Chen; M. africana var.
bifaria (Wallich) Franchet; M. africana var. glandulosa
J. M. Zhang; M. africana var. retusa A. de Candolle;
M. bifaria Wallich; M. microphylla Hayata; M.
potama D. Don; M. vaccinifolia Hayata; Rhamnus myrtillus
H. Léveillé.
Shrubs 50-100 cm tall. Branchlets terete, 0.5-2 mm
in diam., reddish glandular granulose and puberulent, with capitate
trichomes, often glabrescent. Petiole marginate, 1-2.5 mm, strongly
decurrent; leaf blade obovate, to orbicular, 1-5 × 0.7-1.6
cm, papery or leathery, glabrous, minutely punctate abaxially,
base cuneate, margin serrate, apex obtuse, to rounded; lateral
veins inconspicuous, marginal vein absent. Inflorescences axillary,
subumbellate or fascicled; basal scales in 1 series. Flowers yellowish
white, 2-2.5 mm, 4-merous. Pedicel 0.5-1.5 mm, glabrous or glandular
puberulent. Calyx lobes spreading, nearly free, broadly ovate
to elliptic, 0.3-0.5 mm, flat, glabrous, margin entire, ciliate,
apex acute to obtuse. Corolla 0.8-1 mm, united to at least 1/2
length, glabrous outside, puberulent inside; lobes lanceolate,
0.8-1 mm, densely punctate, margin entire, glandular granuose,
apex obtuse to acute. Stamens longer than petals; filaments united
basally into a tube adnate to corolla tube, puberulent in staminate
flowers. Pistil globose. Style short; stigma discoid, margin lobed.
Fruit red or purple-black, globose, ca. 5 mm in diam., smooth.
Fl. Feb-Jun, fr. Nov-Jan.
Sparse mixed forests, open mountain slopes, sunny
dry places, scrub, fields, roadsides; 1000-3600 m. Gansu, Guangxi,
Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan
[India; Azores, Africa, SW Asia].
