Litsea cupularis Hemsley, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 26: 380. 1891; Fiwa cupularis (Hemsley) Nakai.

Shrubs or small trees, 2-10 m tall. Young branchlets puberulent. Leaves usually 5- or 6-crowded on top branchlets, subverticillate; petiole 3-8 mm, pubescent; leaf blade oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 5.5-13.5 × 1.5-2.7 cm, pubescent and gradually becoming glabrous abaxially, glabrous adaxially, pinninerved, lateral veins 8-13 pairs, slender, base and apex acuminate or acute. Umbel solitary or numerous in lateral side of branchlet, sessile, male umbel 6- or 7-flowered. Pedicel villous. Perianth segments 6(-8), ovate, ca. 2 × 1.5 mm. Male flowers: fertile stamens 9; filaments ca. 4 mm, glabrous, of 3rd whorls each with 2 glands at base. Fruit ovoid, 12-14 × ca. 10 mm, apiculate, glabrous, red at maturity, seated on entire or deeply undulate cup-shaped perianth tube. Fl. Oct-Nov, fr. Aug-Sep.

The seeds may be processed for their oil, which is used for making soap and lubricant. The roots and leaves are used medicinally for curing hemorrhoids, athlete’s foot, etc.

● Mountain slopes, dense forests, streamsides, thickets; 300-1300 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan.