侯钩藤 hou gou teng

Lianas, to 13 m tall. Young stems quadrangular, puberulent to glabrescent. Petiole 5-7 mm, puberulent to glabrous; leaf blade drying thickly papery and dark brown to grayish brown, ovate, lanceolate, or elliptic-ovate, 5-9 × 2.5-4.5 cm, both surfaces puberulent to glabrescent, base cuneate to obtuse, rounded, or cordulate, apex acuminate; secondary veins 5-7 pairs, usually with pilosulous domatia; stipules generally persistent, ovate, deeply 2-lobed, glabrous to puberulent, lobes triangular to ovate, 3-4 mm, acute to acuminate. Inflorescences axillary and often in terminal groups of 3-5, puberulent to glabrescent; peduncles 3.5-6 cm, simple but sometimes with 2 articulations; bracts 3-4 mm; flowering heads 9-11 mm in diam. across calyces, 25-30 mm in diam. across corollas; bracteoles linear or linear-spatulate, 2.5-3.5 mm. Flowers sessile. Calyx with hypanthium portion obconic, ca. 1.5 mm, densely sericeous or strigose; limb deeply lobed, densely strigillose; lobes oblong to spatulate, ca. 1.5 mm, obtuse to rounded. Corolla color unknown, salverform, outside puberulent; tube ca. 12 mm; lobes obovate or oblong-obovate, 2-2.5 mm, rounded. Fruiting head 16-20 mm in diam. Fruit sessile, obovoid-ellipsoid, 8-10 × 3-3.5 mm, sericeous to strigillose; seeds not seen. Fl. and fr. May-Dec.

● Forests, forest margins; 500-800 m. Guangdong, Guangxi.

This species was illustrated by How (loc. cit.: 257, f. 31). Ridsdale (Blumea 24: 93. 1978) included Uncaria rhynchophylloides as a synonym of U. rhynchophylla; however, these do appear to be distinct.