Vanieria cochinchinensis Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 2: 564. 1790; Cudrania cochinchinensis (Loureiro) Kudô & Masamune; C. integra F. T. Wang & T. Tang; C. javanensis Trécul; C. obovata Trécul; C. rectispina Hance; Maclura gerontogea Siebold & Zuccarini; Trophis spinosa Roxburgh ex Willdenow; Vanieria cochinchinensis var. gerontogea (Siebold & Zuccarini) Nakai.

Shrubs, erect or scandent. Branches glabrous; spines curved or straight, to ca. 2 cm, sometimes very inconspicuous. Petiole ca. 1 cm; leaf blade elliptic-lanceolate to oblong, 3-8 × 2-2.5 cm, papery to leathery, glabrous, base cuneate, margin entire, apex rounded to shortly acuminate; secondary veins 7-10 on each side of midvein, tertiary veins reticulate. Male inflorescences a capitulum, 6-10 mm in diam., pedunculate. Female inflorescences pubescent; peduncle to 1 cm. Male flowers: calyx lobes 4, unequal; anthers short; pistillode pyramidal or shield-shaped. Female flowers: calyx lobes free or basally connate, apex thick. Fruiting syncarp reddish orange when mature, 2-5 cm in diam., pubescent. Drupes brown when mature, ovoid, smooth. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Jul.

This species is widespread and variable The binomial has often been ascribed to Kudô & Masamune (Ann. Rep. Taihoku Bot. Gard. 2: 27. 1932.) but they mentioned only var. gerontogea and thus did not validate any new name as they ascribed the variety to a then non-existent binomial. The identity of Cudrania chinensis Loureiro, published simultaneously with Maclura cochinchinensis Loureiro, is uncertain as no type material has been found, but the most likely possibility is that it is a spineless form of this species.

Near villages. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, SE Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Indochina, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia, Pacific Islands].