Embelia esquirolii H. Léveillé.

Twining shrubs; branchlets with lenticels; lenticels elliptic to orbicular, white, prominent; winter buds large, long ovate to long conical, up to 12 mm, base ca. 5 mm in diam. Petiole 1-2.3 cm; leaf blade rectangular, ovate-elliptic, or elliptic, 6-12 × 3.5-7 cm, abaxially glabrous, or rarely with brown short tomentum on veins, adaxially glabrous, asperous, base rounded or broadly orbicular, margin shallowly serrate, apex acuminate; secondary veins 5-7 pairs, veinlets densely netted, prominent on both surfaces. Cymes terminal and axillary, terminal inflorescences ca. 3 cm, axillary ones short and few flowered; rachis 5-10 mm; pedicels 2.5-5 mm, jointed above middle. Sepals ovate, ca. 1.5 mm, margin erose; petals rectangular-ovate, 3-4 × 1.2-2 mm. Disk shallowly cupuliform, lobe approximately triangular, lobe in female flowers often obtuse. Stamens as long as corolla; filament sometimes with papillate hairs; anther sometimes apically mucronulate; staminodia in female flowers ca. 1.5 mm. Pistils ampullaceous; ovary globose; styles ca. 1.5 mm; pistillodes in male flowers 1-2 mm. Capsule globular, 10-13 mm wide; stipes with visible prominent lenticels. Seeds widely elliptic to rectangular-elliptic, 4-5.5 mm, obtuse, reddish brown, shiny. Fl. Apr-Sep, fr. Aug-Oct.

● Dense forests, thickets; 500-1800 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang.