越南叶下珠 yue nan ye xia zhu

Cathetus cochinchinensis Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 2: 608. 1790; Phyllanthus cinerascens Hooker & Arnott; P. embergeri Haicour & Rossignol; P. fasciculatus Müller Argoviensis; P. roeperianus Müller Argoviensis; P. urinaria Linnaeus subsp. nudicarpus Rossignol & Haicour.

Shrubs up to 3 m tall; stem yellowish brown or gray-brown; branchlets 10-30 cm, yellowish brown pubescent when young, glabrescent. Leaves spirally arranged or 3-5-fascicled on cushion-shaped short branches; stipules reddish brown, ovate-triangular, ca. 2 mm, base cordate, margin ciliate, apex caudate-acuminate, persistent; petiole 1-2 mm, velvety-papillate [pubescent to glabrous]; leaf blade obovate, oblong-obovate, or spatulate, 1-2 × 0.6-1.3 cm, leathery, base attenuate, margin narrowly revolute when dry, apex obtuse or rounded, rarely retuse; midrib slightly raised on both surfaces, lateral veins obscure. Plants dioecious or monoecious. Inflorescence a 1(or 2)-flowered axillary fascicle; bracts many, membranous, densely yellow-brown hairy, margins fimbriate. Male flowers: pedicels ca. 3 mm; sepals 6, obovate or spatulate, ca. 1.3 × 1-1.2 mm, thicker at base, margin membranous; disk glands 6, obconical, ± confluent into ring; stamens 3; filaments connate to middle; thecae parallel, longitudinally dehiscent. Female flowers: pedicels 2-3 mm; sepals 6, ovate or ovate-rhombic, 1.5-1.8 × ca. 1.5 mm, margin membranous, thicker at base; disk suburceolate; ovary globose, ca. 1.2 mm in diam., 3-celled; styles 3, ca. 1.1 mm, connate at middle to base, bifid at apex, recurved. Capsules globose, ca. 5 mm in diam. Seeds ovoid-segmentiform, ca. 2 × 2 mm; testa thin, cells with prominent dark, domed centers. Fl. and fr. Jun-Dec.

Montane sparse forests, forest margins, scrub on slopes, wastelands; 500-800(-3000) m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Cambodia, India, Laos, Vietnam].

Phyllanthus cochinchinensis has been confused with P. acidus (Linnaeus) Skeels. The gathering G. Forrest 11181 is tentatively placed here but is only up to 30 cm high, grows at 3000 m, and has purple-black fruits.