棘刺卫矛 ji ci wei mao

Euonymus arboricola Hayata; E. fungosus Ohwi subsp. chinensis P. S. Hsu; E. mupinensis Loesener & Rehder; E. scandens Graham; E. subsessilis Sprague; E. trichocarpus Hayata.

Evergreen or semievergreen shrubs, scandent, 2-3 m tall; branches and twigs slender, striate, angulate, brown or gray-brown when dry, sometimes black. Petiole short, ca. 3 mm; leaf blade thinly leathery, ovate, ca. 5 × 2-3 cm, base cuneate or truncate, margin sparsely serrate, apex acute or acuminate; lateral veins 6-8 pairs, sometimes impressed adaxially and prominent abaxially, disappearing before reaching margin. Peduncle 2-3 cm, 1-3-flowered; pedicel ca. 1 cm. Flowers 4-merous, 6-8 mm in diam.; sepals small, semirotund; petals orbicular, attenuate at base, greenish yellow. Capsule red when fresh, brown when dry, nearly globose, ca. 10 mm in diam., densely prickly, prickles 1-2 mm. Aril bright orange. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Sep-Jan.

Forests, scrub; 1300-3500 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand].

This is one of the most complicated and variable species in the section. Euonymus scandens appears to be conspecific; however, the type is without flowers and fruit, making a definitive determination impossible.