秀丽楤木 xiu li cong mu

Aralia elegans C. N. Ho, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 2: 77. 1952, not Linden ex Decaisne & Planchon (1854).

Shrubs, 1-2 m tall, andromonoecious. Branches with sparse, slender, conic prickles. Leaves 2-pinnately compound, with a pair of accessory leaflets at each division of rachis; petiole 10-15 cm, glabrous, prickly, sometimes sparsely so; petiolules 5-10 mm; leaflets 2-8 per pinna, ovate to lanceolate, 3-6 × 1.2-3 cm, membranous, both surfaces glabrous, abaxially glaucous, secondary veins 4-7 pairs, conspicuous on both surfaces, tertiary veins inconspicuous, base rounded, margin coarsely serrate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of umbels, glabrous, unarmed; primary axes longer than 35 cm; secondary axes to ca. 10 cm; ultimate axes with a terminal umbel of bisexual flowers and several lateral umbels of male flowers; bracts persistent, narrowly triangular, to 9 mm; umbels 8-15-flowered; pedicels 3-6 mm, pilose, slightly furfuraceous. Ovary 5-carpellate; styles 5, free. Fruit globose to ovoid-globose, 4-4.5 × 3.5-4 mm; styles persistent, radiating. Fl. Jun-Jul.

● Valleys, thickets, 800-1000 m. Guangdong, Guangxi.