古山龙 gu shan long

Large woody vines up to 10 m. Stems and old branches gray or dark gray, irregularly and longitudinally rugose; branchlets terete, neatly and longitudinally striate, glabrous. Petioles shorter than leaf blade; leaf blade broadly ovate to broadly ovate-orbicular, 8-13 × 6-9.5 cm, leathery to thickly leathery, fuliginous adaxially and brown abaxially when dry, glabrous on both surfaces, base subtruncate or slightly rounded, rarely subcordate, apex often cuspidate, palmately 5-veined, fine reticulation more conspicuous abaxially. Male inflorescences usually arising from leaf scar on old stems, paniculate, 5-8 cm with short branches 1-2 cm or slightly longer, subglabrous. Male flowers: sepals 9 in 3 whorls, outer whorls subovate, 0.6-0.8 mm, margin erose, middle whorl oblong-elliptic, 2.2-2.3 mm, inner whorl nautiform, ca. 2.2 mm; synandrium with 9 anthers. Female flowers not seen. Infructescences borne on old stems, stout, carpophores stout, 0.7-1.5 × 0.5-0.7 cm. Drupes yellow when mature, later black, subglobose, slightly flat, 2.5-3 cm, ferruginous pilose; exocarp smooth; endocarp subbony, oblate. Fl. summer.

● Forests. Hainan.

Material of this species was originally identified as Arcangelisia flava (Linnaeus) Merrill (including A. loureiroi (Pierre) Diels) (e.g., Forman, Fl. Thailand 5(3): 339. 1991). Arcangelisia flava has larger leaves, (10-)12-25 × (5.5-)8-19 cm, inflorescences 10-50 cm, and carpophores to 4 cm.

This species is used medicinally. An unpublished IUCN list recorded it as vulnerable: VU(A1c,2c;B2c).