三叶藤 san ye teng

Limonia scandens Roxburgh, Fl. Ind., ed. 1832, 2: 380. 1832; Luvunga nitida Pierre.

Heavy woody climbers. Leaves digitately 3-foliolate; petiole 2-9 cm; petiolules 3-10 mm; leaflet blades elliptic to obovate, 6-20 × 3-9 cm. Flowers ellipsoid in bud. Calyx 2.5-4 mm, shallowly 4-lobed. Petals 4.6-10 mm. Stamens 8 or fewer. Fruit yellow, globose or obpyriform, 3-5 cm in diam., surface smooth, 1-4-seeded; outer part of pericarp (exocarp and mesocarp) thick. Seeds broadly ovoid, 2-3 cm. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Oct-Dec.

Riverbanks, valleys of evergreen broad-leaved forests; below 600 m. Guangdong, Hainan, S Yunnan [Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].