Vasilis Teodoridis:
Euphorbiaceae | Mallotus
21. Mallotus apelta (Loureiro) Müller Argoviensis; Linnaea. 34: 189. 1865.
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Shrubs or small trees 1-6 m tall. Branchlets whitish and brownish stellate-tomentulose when young. Stipules subulate; 2.5-4 mm; deciduous; petiole 5-15 cm; whitish tomentulose; leaf blade broadly ovate; 5-60 x 4-20 cm; papery; abaxially whitish tomentulose and scattered orange glandular-scaly; adaxially glabrescent or sparsely stellate-pilosulose; base truncate or contracted cuneate; rarely slightly cordate; with 2 basal glands; margin repand-denticulate; apex acute or acuminate; basal veins 3. Male inflorescences terminal; branched or unbranched; 15-50 cm; whitish tomentulose; bracts triangular; ca. 2.5 mm. Male flowers 1-5-fascicled; pedicel ca. 3 mm; calyx lobes 4; ovate; ca. 3 mm; tomentulose; stamens 50-75. Female inflorescences unbranched; peduncle 5-10 cm; bracts linear ca. 3 mm; infructescence 15-60 cm; densely cylindric; whitish tomentose. Female flowers: pedicel 1.5-2 mm; calyx lobes 3-5; ovate to triangular; 2.5-3 mm; tomentose; ovary 3(or 4)-locular; with stellate-tomentulose hairs; style ca. 3 mm; plumose. Capsule subglobose; densely softly spiny; spines filiform; 3-8 mm; whitish stellate-pubescent. Seeds ovoid; ca. 4 mm; often black; verruculose. Fl. May-Sep; fr. Aug-Nov.
Hill slopes; mountain valleys; thickets; forests; below 100-1000 m. SW Fujian; Guangdong; Guangxi; Hainan; S Hunan; S Jiangxi; S Yunnan [Vietnam