Psychotria rubra

Japanese: ボチョウジ（英語表記）Psychotria rubra

An evergreen shrub or small tree of the Rubiaceae family. It is distributed in the tropics of East Asia, and in Japan it grows wild in the Ryukyu Islands and Kagoshima Prefecture. It grows to a height of 2-3 m and branches well. The branches are round and green, with opposite leaves with 1-2 cm stalks at each node. The leaves are elliptical with pointed ends, 10-20 cm long, somewhat thick and entire, dark green on the upper surface, and have about 10 pairs of lateral veins. In summer, it produces well-branched inflorescences from the leaf axils, and bears many small white flowers. The corolla is funnel-shaped about 5 mm long, with five star-shaped lobes at the upper half. The fruit is spherical, about 6 mm in diameter, and ripens red. A closely related species, Ogasawara-labo-choji P. homoalosperma, endemic to the Ogasawara Islands, grows to a height of 5-8 m, has large flowers and fruits, and the fruits ripen black.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

アカネ科の常緑低木ないし小高木。東アジア熱帯に分布し，日本では琉球列島と鹿児島県に自生する。高さ2～3mでよく分枝する。枝は丸くて緑色，各節に1～2cmの柄のある葉を対生する。葉は両端がとがった楕円形で長さ 10～20cm，質はやや厚く全縁，上面は濃い緑色で 10対あまりの側脈がある。夏に，葉腋からよく分枝する花序を出し，小さな白花を多数つける。花冠は長さ 5mmほどの漏斗形で上半部は星形に5裂する。果実は径約 6mmの球形で赤色に熟す。小笠原諸島に固有の近縁種オガサワラボチョウジ P.homalospermaは，樹高5～8mになり，花，果実とも大型で，果実は黒熟する。

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