Lasianthus hirsutus (Roxb.) Merr.

 Lasianthus hirsutus (Roxb.) Merr., J. Arnold Arbor. 33(3): 229 (1952).

Lasianthus hirsutus (Roxb.) Merr., Photo by Hoang Thanh Son

its native range is Tropical & Subtropical Asia.

Latin name:

Lasianthus hirsutus (Roxb.) Merr.

Family:

Rubiaceae Juss.

Synonyms:

Triosteum hirsutum Roxb.

Lasianthus bracteatus Wight

Lasianthus everettii Merr.

Lasianthus laevicaulis Kurz

Lasianthus oculus-cati Miq.

Lasianthus roxburghii Wight

Mephitidia bracteata (Wight) Walp..

Vietnamese name:

Xú hương. 

Chinese name:

鸡屎树 - ji shi shu

Describtion:

Shrubs, 1-2 m tall; branchlets stiffly spreading rusty hirsute to glabrescent. Petiole 10-15 mm, hirsute; leaf blade subleathery or leathery, oblong or oblanceolate-oblong, 13-25 × 5-7.5 cm, glabrous adaxially, densely hirtellous or hirsute to strigose abaxially, base acute to obtuse, apex shortly acuminate; lateral veins 7-10 pairs; nervules subparallel, elevated abaxially; stipules lanceolate to deltoid, 8-10 mm, hirsute, generally persistent at least on apical nodes. Inflorescences glomerulate, sessile, hirsute; bracts leaflike, numerous, persistent, outer ones ovate-lanceolate, 2-3 cm, with distinct nerves, inner ones linear, much smaller. Flowers sessile. Calyx densely hirsute; hypanthium portion obconical, ca. 1 mm; limb 5-lobed; lobes linear-lanceolate, ca. 2.5 mm. Corolla 11-15 mm; tube 8-12 mm, outside glabrous in lower half and hirsute in upper half, glabrous inside; lobes 5, ovate, ca. 3 mm. Fruit ovoid-globose, 4-5 mm in diam., hirsute to glabrescent, with ca. 5 rounded ridges; pyrenes 5.

Fruit and Flowering:

Flowering has been recorded in June and fruiting in August.

Distribution: 

Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, China Southeast, Hainan, India, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.

Ecology:

It  is usually found in complex notophyll to mesophyll vine forests on sandy brown soils overlying granite.  It occurs at 360-500 m altitude.

Chemical and Pharmacology:

Cultivation:

Uses:

Type Information:

Ridley, H.N. [14009], Malaysia K000777044 syntype

References:

https://www.ipni.org/n/754990-1

http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:754990-1

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242328360