Vasilis Teodoridis:
Lauraceae | Litsea
18. Litsea verticillata Hance; J. Bot. 21: 356. 1883.
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Litsea brevipetiolata Lecomte; L. multiumbellata Lecomte; L. multiumbellata f. annamensis H. Liu; L. verticillata f. annamensis (H. Liu) C. K. Allen; L. verticillata var. brevipes Merrill & F. P. Metcalf; L. verticillata var. brevipetiolata (Lecomte) C. K. Allen.
Evergreen shrubs or small trees; 2-5 m tall. Young branchlets densely yellow hirsute and becoming glabrous. Leaves 4-6-verticillate; petiole 2-6 mm; densely yellow villous; leaf blade long lanceolate or long elliptic-oblanceolate; 7-25 x 2-6 cm; pubescent abaxially; pinninerved; lateral veins 12-14 pairs; base acute; obtuse; or rotund; apex acuminate. Umbels in cluster of 2-10 at apex of branchlet; 5-8-flowered; pale yellow; subsessile. Perianth segments (4-)6; lanceolate. Male flowers: fertile stamens 9; filaments exserted; villous; of 3rd whorls each with 2 peltate-cordate glands at base; rudimentary pistil lacking. Fruit ovoid or ellipsoid; 10-15 x 5-6 mm; seated on discoid perianth tube; fruiting pedicel short. Fl. Apr-Nov; fr. Nov-Jun of next year.
Valleys; streamsides; thickets; weed-tree forests; below 1300 m. Guangdong; Guangxi; Hainan; S Yunnan [Cambodia; NE Thailand; Vietnam].
This species has a strong capacity for sprouting. The wood is relatively hard and is used for fuel. The roots and leaves are used medicinally for treating rheumatism and relieving menstrual cramping and soreness; the leaves are also applied to fractured bones and snake bites.