灌状买麻藤 guan zhuang mai ma teng

Shrubs or small trees; bark grayish; crown narrow; branches becoming vinelike, green or yellowish green. Petiole 0.5-1.8 cm; leaf blade drying yellowish green, elliptic or oblong, 7.5-20 × 2.5-10 cm, leathery or membranous, lateral veins inconspicuous, curved, base attenuate into petiole, apex acuminate or cuspidate. Male inflorescences axillary, solitary, simple or once branched; male spikes (1-)3-6 cm × 2.5-3 mm, involucral collars clearly separated, to 1 cm apart, each collar with 50-80 flowers plus 5-15 globose sterile female flowers, basal hairs inconspicuous. Female inflorescences similar to male; nodes each with 5-8 female flowers. Seeds sessile or nearly so, yellow to orange-yellow or pink, ellipsoid, 1-2.5 (-3.5) × 0.9 (-1.5) cm, longitudinally ribbed, surface usually velvety, apex mucronate.

SE Xizang, W Yunnan (Yingjiang Xian) [India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Pacific Islands]

No voucher specimens have been seen by the authors but the species is very distinctive: the erect habit, yellow-green dried leaves, and lax male spikes immediately distinguish it from all other species in the area, and it is reasonable to accept these determinations. The species is widely cultivated in SE Asia and is to be expected in S China. F. Markgraf (Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 3, 10: 436-445. 1930) recognized several infraspecific taxa but the authors prefer not to use any of these without having seen the relevant material.