海南牛奶菜 hai nan niu nai cai

Marsdenia alata Tsiang; M. hainanensis var. alata (Tsiang) Tsiang & P. T. Li

Lianas stout, to 6 m, rusty tomentose except for corolla. Petiole 3-10 cm, rather thick and fleshy; leaf blade broadly ovate to orbicular, 8-18 × 7-12 cm, papery, base shallowly cordate, apex short acuminate; lateral veins 5 or 6 pairs. Inflorescences 10-16 cm, forked at right angles to peduncle, sometimes rebranching; peduncle to 15 cm. Pedicel ca. 1 cm. Sepals ovate, ca. 3 × 2 mm, basal glands sometimes present. Corolla yellowish white, subcampanulate; tube ca. 4 × 2 mm, glabrous outside, pilose inside; lobes ovate, 3-4 × 2-3 mm. Corona lobes ovate or ovate-oblong, fleshy, shorter than anthers and corolla tube. Anther appendages large and rounded; pollinia reniform. Stigma head thick, conical to globose, exserted from anthers. Follicles fusiform, ca. 14 × 3 cm. Seeds ovate; coma ca. 5 cm. Fl. May-Oct, fr. Sep-Dec.

Open woods, thickets on hilltops; ca. 500 m. Hainan, Hunan [Vietnam]

The winged petioles described for Marsdenia alata are an artifact of preservation.