Leea asiatica (L.) Ridsdale

Erect shrubs or small trees. Branchlets terete with longitudinal ridges obtuse, sparsely pubescent. Leaves pinnate or 3-foliolate; stipules deciduous; petiole 3-7 cm, central petiolules 3-6 cm, lateral petiolules 0.7-2.5 cm, pubescent or subglabrate; leaflets oblong, ovate-elliptic, or long ovate, 8-22 × 4-13 cm, base rounded or slightly cordate, margin with rounded and obtuse teeth, apex acuminate or caudate, abaxial surface sparsely with scabrous hairs on veins to sometimes pubescent, adaxial surface glabrous or with sparse bristles on veins; lateral veins 11-15 pairs, adaxial veinlets conspicuously protruding. Inflorescences leaf-opposed, compound dichasial, usually branched at base; peduncle 1.2-2 cm, sparsely pubescent. Involucre narrow, triangular, 0.3-0.5 cm; bracts small, long triangular, 1.5-2 × 0.4-0.6 cm, glabrous. Pedicel 1-2 mm, with papillate hairs; buds ovate-elliptic, 2-3 mm, apex rounded. Calyx tube cupulate, margin undulately lobed. Petals elliptic, 1.5-2.5 mm, glabrous. Staminodial tube 1.2-1.5 mm, with lower part 0.2-0.25 mm, upper 1-1.2 mm, lobes 0.5-0.7 mm. Stamens 5; filaments 0.8-1.2 mm; anthers elliptic, 0.8-1 × 0.4-0.5 mm. Ovary globose; style 0.8-1 mm; stigma expanded slightly. Berry oblate, 0.5-0.7 cm, 4-6-seeded. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Aug-Dec. 2n = 48.

Shrub up to 3 m tall, stem herbaceous, shoot not winged. Leaves unipinnately compound, lowest pair of leaflets rarely again pinnately compound, leaflets elliptic, 6-20 x 2.5-12 cm, scabrous with few white hairs above, hairy on the nerves below, cordate-rounded, acuminate, serrate; lateral petiolulate 1-2 cm long; stipules large, c. 1.4 cm long, adherent to the petiole, pubescent to glabrous, caducous. Peduncles 0 to 5 cm long. Flowers white or greenish white, c. 4 mm across; bracts filiform, longer in old flowers, smaller upwards, ± persistent, hairy. Calyx cupular, 5-lobed, lobes 2-5 mm long, linear, subulate, obtuse and gland-tipped. Petals 5, ovate 1.5-2 mm long. Staminal tube divided about half way down or a little less. Berry black, smooth, depressed-globose, 4-6 mm in diameter, entire or obscurely 6-lobed, glabrous. Fruit edible.

Yunnan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam].

Distribution: Pakistan, Nepal and India.

Fl. Per.: August-November.

Forest margins, valleys, along streams; 500-1800 m.

Phytolacca asiatica Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 474. 1753; Leea crispa Linnaeus; L. edgeworthii Santapau; L. herbacea Buchanan-Hamilton; L. pumila Kurz.