Vasilis Teodoridis:
Rubiaceae
Damnacantus giganteus (Mak.) Nakai; Trees et Shrubs Jap. ed. 1;412. 1922.
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D. indicus Gaertn. f. var. giganteus Mak.; D. macrophyllus Sieb. ex Miq. var. giganteus (Mak.) Koidz.; D. subspinosus Hand.-Mazz..
Spiny shrubs; rarely small tress; 0.5--2(--7.5) m tall; root fleshy; moniliform; young branches usually 4-angulate; dark green and sparsely puberulent at first; later grayish yellow; glabrous; spines very short; 1--2 mm long; usually only in stipule axils at top node; sometimes most of nodes with persistent spines. Petioles 2--5 mm long; adaxially sparsely puberulent at first; glabrescent later; leaf blade leathery; lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate; 4--14(--15) ? 2--3(--5) cm; densely puberulent alongveins adaxially; glabrescent later; when dry adaxially black; olive-green or brown; adaxially olive-green or brownish yellow; apex acuminate or acute; base rounded; margin entire; with revolute line; midrib abaxially prominent; adaxially impressed; sometimes plane or linear prominent; lateral veins 5--7 pairs; arcuate and joining; abaxially prominent; adaxially indistinct; impressed or flat; stipules interpetiolar; upper part bifid at first; later connate; thickened into trianglar or semiorbicular; caducous. Flowers in pairs terminal on an axillary short peduncle; usually only one pair; sometimes 2--4 pairs; bract small; scaly. Pedicels ca. 2 mm long. Calyx campanulate; 2--3 mm long; densely puberulent at first; limb 4-lobed; teeth triangular. Corolla white; leathery; tubulate funnelform; 15--18 mm long; 3 mm wide. Stamens 4; inserted at corolla throat; filaments 2 mm long; anthers 2 mm long; basifixed; exserted. Ovary 4-celled; Style exserted; apex 4-laciniate. Drupe red; subglobse; 5--8 mm in diameter; pyrenes (1 or) 2--4; trigonal. Seeds subglobose; corneous. Fl. Mar--May; fr. Nov--Jan.
Sparse or dense forest and thickets. Anhui; Zhejiang; Jiangxi; Fujian; Hunan; Guangdong; Guangxi; Guizhou; Yunnan [Japan].