Pachysandra axillaris Franch.

Subshrubs; stem lower part creeping, with fibrous adventitious roots, upper part erect, 30-50 cm tall, mostly leafy, lower 1/2 with small, sparse, usually deciduous scale leaves; branches pubescent. Petiole 2-4 cm, pubescent, or 5-7 cm, villous; leaf blade ovate, elliptic-ovate, broadly ovate, ovate-oblong, or oblong, 5-8 × 3-5 cm or 6-16 × 4-10 cm, papery, glabrous adaxially, tiny papillate and densely pubescent or pubescent and densely villous along midrib and lateral veins or scattered villous abaxially, base shallowly cordate, truncate, or rounded, rarely cuneate, margin dentate at middle-upper part or subentire, apex acute or acuminate. Inflorescences axillary, 1-2 cm or 2.5-5 cm, erect or pendulous. Flowers white, rose, or red. Male flowers (5-)10-20, inserted almost over all of rachis, sessile; bracts ovate; tepals elliptic or oblong, 2-2.5(-3) mm; anthers elliptic, curved after pollinated; sterile pistil shortly terete, ca. 0.5 mm, apex inflated. Female flowers (1-)3-6, inserted basally on rachis, flower and pedicel ca. 4 mm; tepals imbricate, ovate-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 2-3 mm, glabrous; style exserted after pollinated, apex convolute. Fruit globose, ca. 1 mm in diam., yellow or purplish red when mature; persistent styles 1-1.5 mm.

C and NW Fujian, NW Guangdong, S Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, W Sichuan, Taiwan, C, SE, and W Yunnan.

● Forests, thickets; 600-2500 m.

Pachysandra axillaris is a species of plant in the family Buxaceae. In its native China, it is known as 板凳果 (Bǎndèng guǒ).