Volume 14 > Part 4 > Year 2020 > Page 552 > Rhamnaceae > Berchemia

Berchemia floribunda (Wall.) Brongn.wfo-0000564139

Mém. Fam. Rhamnées: 50. 1826; Ann. Sci. Nat. (Paris) 10: 357. 1827; Kurz, Forest Fl. Burma 1: 264. 1877; Craib, Fl. Siam. 1(2): 299. 1926.— Ziziphus floribunda Wall. in Roxb., Fl. Ind., ed. Carey & Wall. 2: 368. 1824.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Large scandent shrub; young branches cylindrical, greenish brown to reddish green, glabrous; bark smooth and shiny. Leaves elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 4–10 by 2.5–7 cm, base rounded to slightly cordate, apex acute to acuminate, margin entire, young leaves sparsely pubescent along veins, mature leaves glabrescent, venation pinnate, midrib immersed adaxially, prominent abaxially, lateral veins 10–12(–13) on each side, vanishing towards margin; petiole slender, 1.5–2.1 cm, glabrous. Inflorescences 15–20 cm long, minutely whitish-pubescent. Flowers yellowish green, 2–2.5 mm in diam.; pedicels 1–2 mm long. Hypanthium shallow patelliform, glabrous. Sepals narrowly triangular, to 2 mm long, apex acute to acuminate, glabrous. Petals spathulate, apex rounded. Disc thick, fleshy, glabrous. Ovary almost completely immersed in disc, glabrous; style undivided, cylindric; stigmas 2-lobed. Fruit a drupe, obovoid-oblong, 1.3–1.5 by 0.6–0.7 mm, greenish red, turning black at maturity, slightly compressed, basally covered with remnants of hypanthium and disc; stipe 3–3.5 mm long, glabrous.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai (Doi Suthep NP, Doi Chiang Dao, Doi Inthanon NP); EASTERN: Chaiyaphum (Phu Khiao WS); PENINSULAR: Krabi (Khao Phanom Bencha).

Distribution : India (Khasin), Nepal (type), Bhutan, China (Yunnan), Vietnam, Japan.

Ecology : Scattered along stream banks or in semi-open places, including margin of primary evergreen forests and field borders, on granite bedrock, 800–1,100 m alt.

Vernacular : Ho saphai khwai (ฮ่อสะพายควาย)(Chiang Mai).

Uses: The roots are used in folk medicine to treat rheumatism and lumbago (Ngujyen Van Duong, 1993). The young leaves are widely used as a substitute for tea.