TaxonomyThis is a very complex and variable species. It is treated by some authorities as a number of distinct but closely related species (see the list of synonyms below). In addition, some authorities such as the Flora of China place it in the genus Campylospermum.
BotanyShrub or tree; 25 metres tall.
Stem: 40cm in diameter; branchlets of young plants are sometimes scrambling.
Use: timber and medicinal
Region: east Asia, China, Indian subcontinent, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines.
Habitat: primary and secondary vegetation, peat swamp forests, high kerangas forests, ridge forests, open scrub vegetation; on level land to steep slopes, near river-banks, on cliffs near the sea; altitude up to 1,500 metres; dappled shade in woodlands; on rocky, sandy, loamy or clayish soils that are usually acid, limestone, moist, heath forest found on acidic, sandy soils that are low in nutrients, especially nitrogen.