Flora of China 4: 132–138. 1999. CHLORANTHACEAE 金粟兰科 jin su lan ke Xia Nianhe (夏念和)1; Joël Jérémie2 Shrubs, small trees, or perennial herbs. Leaves simple; stipules small; petioles usually connate at base; leaf blade pinnately veined, margin serrate or crenate. Flowers small, bisexual or unisexual, arranged in spikes, capitula, or panicles; perianth present in female flowers or absent. Bisexual flowers: stamens 1 or 3, inserted on 1 side of ovary; filaments inconspicuous; connectives conspicuous, if stamens 3, connectives connate at base or free; anthers 1- or 2- loculed, longitudinally dehiscent; pistil 1, 1-carpelled; ovary inferior, 1-loculed; ovule 1, pendulous, orthotropous; style short or absent. Unisexual flowers: male flowers many, stamen 1; female flowers few; perianth 3-toothed, calyxlike, connate to ovary. Drupes ovoid or globose; exocarp ± fleshy; endocarp hard. Seeds containing rich endosperm and tiny embryo. Five genera and ca. 70 species: tropical and subtropical regions; three genera and 15 species (nine endemic) in China. Wu Kuo-fang. 1982. Chloranthaceae. In: Tseng Yung-chien, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 20(1): 77–97. The origin and distribution of the family have been discussed by Z. K. Zhou (Acta Bot. Yunnan. 15: 321–331. 1993). 1a. Flowers unisexual, female flowers with a 3-toothed, cupular perianth connate to ovary; male flowers with 1 stamen .............................................................................................................................................. 3. Hedyosmum 1b. Flowers bisexual, perianth absent; stamens 1 or 3, inserted on 1 side of ovary. 2a. Stamen 1, baculate or ovoid, anthers 2-, rarely 3-loculed; subshrubs ........................................... 1. Sarcandra 2b. Stamens (1 or)3, base ± connate, central anther 2-loculed, lateral anthers 1-loculed; perennial herbs or subshrubs .................................................................................................................................... 2. Chloranthus 1. SARCANDRA Gardner, Calcutta J. Nat. Hist. 6: 348. 1845. 草珊瑚属 cao shan hu shu Subshrubs glabrous; wood without vessels. Leaves opposite, usually in many pairs; stipules small; petioles short, connate at base, forming a short sheath; leaf blade elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or elliptic-lanceolate, margin serrate, with 1 gland at serrate tip. Spikes terminal, usually branched, ± in panicles; flowers bisexual, perianth and pedicel absent; bract 1, triangular, persistent. Stamen 1, fleshy, baculate to depressed; anther 2(or 3)-loculed, thecae lateral to introrse. Ovary globose or ovoid; style absent; stigma subcapitate or minutely spotted. Drupes globose or ovoid. Three species: SE Asia to India; one species in China. 1 Herbarium, Department of Taxonomy, South China Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wushan, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510650, People’s Republic of China. 2 Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Laboratoire de Phanerogamie, 16 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France. 2 1. Sarcandra glabra (Thunberg) Nakai, Fl. Sylv. Kor. 18: 17. 1a. Sarcandra glabra subsp. glabra 1930. 草珊瑚(原亚种) cao shan hu (yuan ya zhong) 草珊瑚 cao shan hu Chloranthus dentialatus Cordemoy; C. esquirolii H. Bladhia glabra Thunberg, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 2: Léveillé. 331. 1794; Ardisia glabra (Thunberg) de Candolle; Leaf blade elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, 6–17 × 2–6 cm, Chloranthus glaber (Thunberg) Makino. leathery, margin sharply coarsely-serrate. Stamen Subshrubs, evergreen, 50–150 cm tall. Stems cylindric, baculate to terete; thecae shorter than connective. erect, glabrous, nodes swollen. Stipules subulate; Stigma subcapitate. Fruit globose, 3–4 mm in diam. Fl. petioles 0.5–2 cm; leaf blade elliptic or ovate to ovate- Jun, fr. Aug–Dec. lanceolate, or broadly elliptic to oblong, 6–20 × 2–8 cm, Forests, thickets, valleys, ravines, slopes, roadsides, trailsides, leathery or papery, glandular mucronate on marginal grasslands, swamps, streamsides, sandy soil; near sea level to 2000 m. teeth, glabrous, base acute, cuneate, or broadly cuneate, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, margin sharply coarsely-serrate or dully serrate except Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Cambodia, India, Japan basally, apex acute to acuminate; lateral veins 5–7, (including Ryukyu Islands), Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, slightly prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescences Vietnam]. terminal, usually branched, ± in spikes, 1.5–4 cm with Sarcandra chloranthoides Gardner, treated as a synonym of this taxon peduncles; bracts triangular or ovate. Flowers yellowish in FRPS, is a distinctive species restricted to India and Sri Lanka (B. green. Stamen 1, fleshy, baculate to terete or ovoid; Verdcourt, Kew Bull. 39: 66. 1984). anther 2-loculed, thecae lateral or sometimes introrse, Used medicinally and for tea. on both sides of apical part of connective or nearly as 1b. Sarcandra glabra subsp. brachystachys (Blume) long as connective. Ovary globose or ovoid; style ab- Verdcourt, Kew Bull. 40: 216. 1985. sent; stigma subcapitate or minutely spotted. Drupes 海南草珊瑚 hai nan cao shan hu green when young, shiny red or yellowish red at Chloranthus brachystachys Blume, Fl. Jav., Chloran- maturity, globose (3–4 mm in diam.) or ovoid (ca. 4 thaceae: 13: t. 2. 1829; Ascarina serrata Blume; mm). 2n = 30*. Forests, thickets, valleys, ravines, slopes, roadsides, trailsides, Chloranthus hainanensis Pei; Sarcandra hainanensis grasslands, swamps, streamsides, sandy soil; near sea level to 2000 m. (Pei) Swamy & I. W. Bailey. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Leaf blade elliptic or broadly elliptic to oblong, 8–20 × Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Cambodia, India, Japan 3–8 cm, papery, margin dully serrate except basally. (including Ryukyu Islands), Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, N Thailand, Vietnam]. Stamen ovoid; thecae much shorter than connective. Used medicinally and for tea. Stigma minutely spotted. Fruit orange-red at maturity, 1a. Stamen overall more than 2 × as long as ovoid, ca. 4 mm. Fl. Oct–May, fr. Mar–Aug. thecae .......................................... 1a. subsp. glabra Wet places on slopes, ravines, roadsides; 400–1600 m. Guangdong, 1b. Stamen only slightly longer than Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan [Laos, N Thailand, Vietnam]. thecae .............................. 1b. subsp. brachystachys Used medicinally. 2. CHLORANTHUS Swartz, Philos. Trans. 77: 359. 1787. 金粟兰属 jin su lan shu Nigrina Thunberg; Tricercandra A. Gray. Subshrubs or perennial herbs. Leaves opposite or whorled, serrate; stipules tiny; petioles connected by a transverse ridge on stem. Inflorescences in spikes or branched, arranged in panicles, terminal or axillary. Flowers small, bisexual; perianth absent. Stamens usually 3, rarely 1, on 1 side of apical part of ovary; basal part of connective confluent, or free and connected or overlapped at base, ovoid or lanceolate, sometimes elongated to linear; anthers 1- or 2-loculed; if stamens 3, central anther 2-loculed or occasionally absent, lateral anthers 1-loculed, if stamen 1, anther 2-loculed. Ovary 1-loculed; ovule 1, pendulous, orthotropous; style usually absent, rarely present; stigma truncate or parted. Drupes globose, obovoid, or pyriform. About 17 species: temperate to tropical Asia; 13 species (nine endemic) in China. Further study is required on Chloranthus pernyanus Solms in A. de Candolle (Prodr. 16(1): 474. 1868), described from China but not treated here. 1a. Subshrubs; stems branched; leaves usually in many pairs, not clustered at stem apex; connectives confluent and ovate, 3- or 5-lobed. 2a. Flowers yellowish green; leaves 5–11 × 2.5–5.5 cm, apex acute or obtuse, margin crenate-serrate; central connective 3-toothed ........................................................................................................ 1. C. spicatus 3 2b. Flowers white; leaves 10–20 × 4–8 cm, apex gradually narrowed to caudate, margin glandular serrate; central lobe of connective entire ................................................................................................................ 2. C. erectus 1b. Perennial herbs; stems usually not branched; leaves usually 4 (rarely 6–10), clustered near stem apex, often false-whorled, with nodes toward base of stem with scalelike leaves only; connectives linear to oblong-lanceolate or very reduced. 3a. Style conspicuous ........................................................................................................................ 3. C. oldhamii 3b. Style absent. 4a. Leaves sessile .................................................................................................................. 13. C. sessilifolius 4b. Leaves petiolate. 5a. Connectives conspicuous, linear, more than 5 × as long as thecae. 6a. Leaves 8–10, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, apex acuminate ............................. 4. C. angustifolius 6b. Leaves usually 4, broadly elliptic or obovate, apex acute or acuminate. 7a. Central stamen without anther; leaf margin sharply serrate ................................ 5. C. japonicus 7b. Central stamen 2-loculed; leaf margin serrate or crenate. 8a. Connective 1–1.9 cm; bracts 2- or 3-toothed; spike 1 ...................................... 6. C. fortunei 8b. Connective less than 1 cm; bracts entire; spikes 1–5 .................................. 7. C. holostegius 5b. Connectives short, 1–3 × as long as thecae. 9a. Leaves pubescent along veins abaxially. 10a. Spikes many (sometimes 1), axillary and terminal;