Mussaenda erosa Champ. ex Benth.

Species

Angiosperms > Gentianales > Rubiaceae > Mussaenda

Characteristics

Climbing shrubs, to 5 m tall; branches glabrous, terete, sparsely lenticellate. Leaves opposite; petiole 0.3-1.5 cm, glabrous; blade drying thickly papery, brown, ovate, oblanceolate, lanceolate, or oblong-elliptic, 5.5-14 × 2.4-6 cm, both surfaces glabrous or sparsely strigose on principal veins, base acute, cuneate, or occasionally obtuse, apex acute to acuminate; secondary veins 4-6 pairs, without domatia, tertiary venation only sparsely visible abaxially; stipules caducous exposing a fringe of persistent reddish brown trichomes, narrowly triangular, 3-8 mm, glabrous, deeply 2-parted, lobes acute to acuminate. Inflorescence compound-cymose to compound-corymbiform, 2-8 × 2-12 cm, congested when young becoming lax with age, glabrous, pedunculate or sessile and 3-or 5-partite; peduncles 1-2.5 cm; bracts triangular to linear-lanceolate, 1.5-7 mm, sparsely strigillose to glabrous; pedicels 1-5 mm. Flowers pedicellate, biology not noted. Calyx with hypanthium portion ellipsoid, 2.5-3.5 mm, glabrous; lobes linear-lanceolate to narrowly triangular, 2-4.5 mm, often unequal on an individual flower, strigillose or hispidulous, with 1 lobe on 1-6 flowers per inflorescence expanded into white calycophyll, blade broadly elliptic to ovate, 3.5-6.5 × 3-5 cm, glabrous except sparsely strigillose on principal veins, base cuneate, rounded, or truncate, stipe 9-20 mm, apex rounded to acute. Corolla yellow to orange-yellow, outside densely strigillose to strigose; tube 22-24 mm; lobes ovate, 4-5 mm, adaxially yellow papillose, rounded then abruptly shortly acuminate. Berry ellipsoid to subglobose, 10-13 × 8-10 mm, glabrous, smooth or sparsely lenticellate, calyx limb deciduous. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Sep-Dec.
Life form -
Growth form shrub
Growth support climber
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Mature height (meter) 5.0
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JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
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JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
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Environment

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Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

Uses medicinal
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Cultivation

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Images

Leaf

Mussaenda erosa leaf picture by Dieter Albrecht (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Mussaenda erosa world distribution map, present in China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Taiwan, Province of China, and Viet Nam

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:756617-1
WFO ID wfo-0000246549
COL ID 44QLX
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Mussaenda erosa