苦味叶下珠(原亚种) ku wei ye xia zhu (yuan ya zhong)

Phyllanthus nanus J. D. Hooker; P. swartzii Kosteletzky.

Herbs annual, erect, up to 50 cm tall; branches alternate. Male and female disk orbicular, not glandular, flattened, connate at base. Pollen grains ellipsoid, not smooth, finely reticulate. Fl. and fr. throughout year.

Dry fields, roadsides, wastelands, forest margins, scrubby woods; below 100-600 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [pantropical weed possibly originating in the Americas].

Phyllanthus amarus was initially misidentified as P. niruri Linnaeus (P. T. Li, Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 44(1): 101. 1994); it has also been confused with P. urinaria Linnaeus.

All parts are used as medicine for hepatitis.