Schisandra sphaerandra is a species of flowering plant in the family Schisandraceae. It is a climbing plant with woody vines, papery leaves, and solitary flowers that can be white, yellow, pink, red, or purple. The species is native to central China, and was described in 1928.
The species is used ornamentally, and in Chinese medicine.
Taxonomy The species was described by Otto Stapf in 1928. It forms a clade with Schisandra rubriflora, Schisandra incarnata, and Schisandra grandiflora.
Distribution Schisandra sphaerandra is native to the temperate biome of south-central China (southern Sichuan and northern Yunnan). It grows in mixed broadleaf forests, dominated by spruce and fir trees. The species is present at elevations of .
Schisandra sphaerandra is partially sympatric with Schisandra rubriflora.
Description Schisandra sphaerandra is a climbing plant with woody vines and elongated leaf-bearing branches. The leaves are papery or rarely subleathery in texture, and obovate-elliptical, elliptical, or ovate-elliptical in shape. The leaves are long, and wide. The leaf stem is long.
The flowers are solitary. The stems of male flowers are long, and the stems of female flowers are long. The male flowers have twenty-two to forty-two stamens, and the female flowers have seventy to one-hundred carpels. The flowers have five to nine tepals (normally six to seven in male flowers, and six to eight in female flowers), which can be white, yellowish, pink, crimson, dark red, or purplish. The plant flowers from May to August.
The fruits have long stems. The plant fruits from August to October. The seeds are more or less smooth.
Herbarium specimens have been mistaken for Schisandra grandiflora. Schisandra sphaerandra has smaller leaves, and greater variation in the colour of the perianth. Schisandra sphaerandra could also be mistaken for Schisandra neglecta.
Uses Schisandra sphaerandra is cultivated as an ornamental plant. The fruits are used in Chinese medicine.
Nomenclature In Chinese, the species is known as ().
References