Volume 8 > Part 1 > Year 2005 > Page 136 > Euphorbiaceae > Breynia

3. Breynia fruticosa (L.) Müll.Arg.wfo-0000412593

in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 237. 1866; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 331. 1887, in obs., usually cited as author; Beille in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 5: 632. 1927; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 26: 225. 1972; Li in Wu & Li, Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 44(1): 181, pl. 55 fig. 1–6. 1994; Chakrab. & M.G.Gangop., J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 20: 503, fig. 1. 1996, pro parte excl. Burmese specimen; Welzen & Esser in Welzen et al., Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 28: 75. 2000.— Andrachne fruticosa L., Sp. Pl.: 1014. 1753.— Melanthesopsis fruticosa (L.) Müll.Arg.in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 437. 1866, tantum quoad synon.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub up to 3.5 m high, glabrous. Stipules 1.2–2.2 by 0.8–1.2 mm. Leaves: petiole 2–4 mm long; blade elliptic to ovate, 2.2–7.7 by 1.5–3.5 cm, length/width ratio 1.7–2.7, coriaceous, base broadly obtuse to acute, symmetric, margin often recurved, apex-acute to acuminate; nerves 6–8 until apex, distinctly glaucous beneath with veinlets indistinct. Staminate flowers 2.6–3 mm in diam.; pedicel 2–4.4 mm long; calyx yellowish to orangish, 2.6–3.2 by 2.6–3 mm, relatively thick, straight; androphore 2–2.2 mm long, anthers 1.2–1.4 mm long. Pistillate flowers 1–4 per axil; 3–4.1(–11 in fruit) mm in diam.; pedicel 3–3.5 mm long; calyx 2.2–3.7 mm long, chartaceous to coriaceous, greenish, glaucous outside or not, lobes 1.3–2.4 mm wide, overlapping; ovary cylindrical, 1.2–1.7 by 0.9–1 mm; stigmas 1–1.2(–2 in fruit) mm long, not united, apically split for at least 0.5 mm, reflexed and often spreading horizontally. Fruits solitary or more often in groups; pedicel 3–5 mm long; calyx chartaceous to coriaceous, 5.5–8 mm in diam., with free lobes 1–1.5 mm long; capsule 5–5.5 by 6.5–8 mm, yellowish to orange, without an apical crown. Seeds 4.6–5 by ca 3 by 3 mm, red.

Thailand : NORTH-EASTERN: Sakon Nakhon (Phu Phan NP), Mukdahan (Don Tan), Kalasin (Somdet), Maha Sarakham (Kosum Pisai); EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima (Bua Yai, Huai Thalaeng), Buri Ram (Buri Ram), Surin (Surin), Roi Et (Kasetwisai, Suwannaphum), Amnat Charoen (Banpong Charoen, Khemarat), Si Sa Ket (Kanthararom, Uthom Phon Phisai), Ubon Ratchathani (Ban Bahai, Phu Chong Nayoi); CENTRAL: Lopburi (Supcham pa Hill); SOUTH-EASTERN: Sa Kaeo (Aranyaprathet, Khao Ang Rue Nai).

Distribution : China (type), Indochina.

Ecology : Dry dipterocarp forests, secondary forests, deciduous and evergreen scrubs and roadsides, evergreen savanna margins, open rocky places, on sandstone bedrock, 100–1,000 m alt.

Vernacular : Khon ma (ขนหมา)(Eastern).

Uses: The young shoots are edible.