Breynia rostrata Merr.

Breynia rostrata has been reported to be hepatotoxic.

Evergreen shrubs or rarely trees, 4-5(-12) m tall, glabrous throughout; branches and leaf blade black when dry. Stipules triangular-lanceolate, slightly shorter than petioles; petiole 2-3 mm; leaf blade ovate- or oblong-lanceolate, 3-7 × 1.5-3 cm, papery or thinly leathery, abaxially gray-green, adaxially green, base acute to obtuse, apex acuminate; lateral veins 3-7 pairs. Flowers male and female mixed in axillary clusters. Male flowers: pedicels ca. 3 mm; calyx funnelform, 2.5-3 mm in diam., 6-dentate at apex. Female flowers: pedicels ca. 3 mm; calyx 6-lobed; sepals unequal, biseriate, outer sepals broadly ovate, ca. 3 mm, inner sepals ovate, ca. 1 mm, apex acute, enlarged and reflexed in fruit; ovary globose, 2-3 mm; stigmas 3, bifid at apex, lobes erect. Capsules globose, 6-7 mm in diam., apex beaked, with persistent stigmas. Seeds ca. 3 mm. Fl. May-Dec, fr. Aug-Dec.

Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Vietnam].

Montane forests or scrub-covered slopes; 100-1500 m.