Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. fil.

Flowering from May to October; fruiting from August to November.

Tripterygium wilfordii is occurring in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Jilin, SE Liaoning, Sichuan, N Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang of China, Japan, Korea, NE Myanmar.

The phylogeny of Celastraceae tribe Celastreae, was inferred in a simultaneous analysis of morphological characters together with nuclear (ITS and 26S rDNA) and plastid (matK, trnL-F) genes. The phylogenetic analysis suggested that the Celastrus is closely related to the Tripterygium. The synapomorphies for the Celastrus and Tripterygium include having three, rather than two, carpels; a trnL-F spacer deletion, and four ITS deletions (Simmons et al., 2008).

Deciduous subshrubs, or scandent and scrambling, or sometimes semiwoody vines, 2-6 (-10) m; branching distally, slender or scrambling, minutely pubescent when young or in open sunlight, becoming glabrous when old or in shade, slightly angled, verrucose or not. Petiole 1-2 cm; stipules linear, cadu cous; leaf blade usually ovate or rounded-ovate, sometimes oblong or elliptic-ovate, (4.6-) 8.6-12.5 (-18.4) cm long, (3.1-) 5.7-8.9 (-12.3) cm wide, papery, herbaceous (in shade or low light) to leathery (in direct sunlight or very dry conditions), glabrous or sparsely scurfy tomentose with reddish brown hairs, abaxially ± farinose, base broadly cuneate, or rounded to cordate, margin entire or less often crenulate, apex short to long acuminate or acute, tip often blunt. Thyrses large, composed of several to dozens of thyrselets, (4.5-) 12.5-23.6 (-38) × (2.3-) 4.7-9.3 (-15) cm; flowers 1 normal and 1 an unfertilized male. Flowers whitish, greenish, or yellow-green, small, 4-6 × 4-6 mm; calyx 5-lobed, hemispheric, ca. 1 mm; petals 5, oblong to subovate, slightly narrowed to base, 2-2.5 mm, apex rounded. Stamens 5, inserted at margin of cup-shaped and compressed disk. Disk bright green, fleshy, ca. 2 mm in diameter. Ovary superior, 3-edged, combined with disk at base, incompletely 3-locular, with 3 prominent ca. 1 mm lobes, short style at apex; stigma capitate, bright purple. Samara usually green or greenish brown when mature, sometimes pink or pinkish purple, 1.3-2.3 cm long, 1.2-1.9 cm wide. Seed compressed, 3-angled, ca. 5 mm long, 1.3-3 mm wide.

Growing in mixed forests, forest margins, woodlands, scrub; 100-3500 m.