Maesa japonica (Thunb.) Moritzi & Zoll.

Shrubs erect, sometimes decumbent or scandent, 1-3(-5) m tall. Branchlets terete, apex glandular granulose, early glabrescent; pith solid. Petiole canaliculate, 5-13 mm; leaf blade elliptic, lanceolate, to obovate, 5-16 × 2-5 cm, leathery, inconspicuously pellucid punctate, base cuneate or obtuse to rounded, smooth adaxially, margin entire toward base and subentire to serrate distally with mucronate teeth, apex acuminate to acute or obtuse; lateral veins 5-8 on each side of midrib. Inflorescences axillary, racemose or paniculate, 1-3(-4) cm, glabrous; bracteoles broadly ovate or reniform, to 1 mm, dark punctate-lineate, ciliate, encircling pedicel. Flowers white, 3.5-5 mm. Pedicel 2.5-3.5 mm, glandular granulose, glabrescent. Calyx ca. 2 mm; lobes ca. 1 mm, ovate to orbicular, punctate-lineate, margin entire, ciliate, apex obtuse or rounded. Corolla white, tubular-campanulate; tube 3-4 mm, prominently punctate-lineate; lobes reniform or ovate, ca. 1 mm, apex rounded or obtuse. Stamens included; anthers ovate, as long as filaments, glandular on back. Pistil included. Style slender, persistent, conical at base in fruit; stigma lobed. Fruit globose or ovoid, 4-5(-6) mm in diam., fleshy, punctate-lineate. Fl. Jan-Mar, fr. Oct-May.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, N Vietnam]

Mixed forests, hillsides, limestone mountains; 300-2000 m.

Doraena japonica Thunberg, Nov. Gen. Pl. 3: 59. 1783; Baeobotrys japonica (Thunberg) Zippelius ex Scheffer; Maesa cavaleriei H. Léveillé; M. coriacea Champion; M. coriacea var. gracilis Bentham; M. doraena Blume ex Siebold & Zuccarini; M. dunniana H. Léveillé; M. esquirolii H. Léveillé; M. japonica f. gracilis (Bentham) Nakai; M. labordei H. Léveillé; M. randaiensis Hayata; M. taiheizanensis Sasaki; Myrsine esquirolii H. Léveillé; Pieris oligodonta H. Léveillé.