Schisandra propinqua

Schisandra propinqua (Wall.) Baill., Hist. Pl. 1: 148 1868. (syn: Kadsura propinqua Wall.; Schisandra propinqua subsp. propinqua ; Schisandra propinqua var. propinqua ; Sphaerostema propinquum (Wall.) Blume);

Himalaya to C. & S. China, Jawa to Bali (as per WCSP)

Schisandra species are apparently dioecious plants in which male (staminate) flowers on one plant, and female (pistillate) flowers on another plant. Flowering/Fruiting: July-September/October-November.

Evergreen woody climbing shrubs, usually glabrous, stem woody, dark brown, thick, slender, lenticellate, branchlets terete, brown, succulent, verrucose and lenticellate. Leaves simple, alternate, narrow lanceolate-elliptic or narrow oblong, 8-15 x 2-6 cm across, base obtuse or rounded, margins subentire or slightly distantly toothed, apex deeply acute or acuminate, soft and rather fleshy, glabrous shining and dark green above, paler, minutely gland dotted beneath, glabrous, lateral veins 8-12 on either side of the midrib, almost parallel, impressed, not prominent, glandular toothed along the margins, reticulate veinlets obscure, open, petiole slender, stout, about 1-1.5 cm long, exstipulate. Flowers axillary, solitary or in clusters, near the base of leaves and young shoots, yellowish, pedicellate, slightly fragrant, about 1.2-2 cm across. Male flowers: Perianth segments 7-17, yellowish, orbicular or obovate, concave in bud, pedicels stout, about 0.3-1.5 cm long, Stamens about 9-18, outer filaments connate into a globose brick-red fleshly mass, stamina column ovoid or cylindric above, about 10-15 mm long, anthers oblong, embedded in a mass of filaments. Female flowers: Perianth as male, pedicels stout, about 0.3-1.3 cm long, carpels 20-50, ovoid, pseudostyle subulate and flat. Fruiting receptacle or column, comparatively longer, robust, about 10-15 cm long, fleshly rachis, cylindrical, subsessile, stalked, bearing ellipsoid, fruitlets, seeds 1-2, smooth, ellipsoid.

Mixed forests at altitude of about 1,000-1,600 m and cultivated.

Local Distribution: Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Uttarakhand.

Global Distribution: Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand.

(Attributions-Ganeshaiah, K. N., UAS, Bangalore, India. Kailash, B. R., UAS & ATREE, Bangalore, India. Indian Bioresource Information Network (IBIN), Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, India from India Biodiversity Portal)

Images by Saroj Kumar Kasaju (Id by Dinesh Singh Rawat) (Inserted by J.M.Garg) (For more photos & complete details, click on the links)