5. Cordia dichotoma G. Forster, Fl. Ins. Austr. 18. 1786.
破布木 po bu mu
Varronia sinensis Loureiro.
Trees 3-4(-20) m tall. Petiole 2-5 cm; leaf blade ovate to broadly ovate or elliptic, 6-13 × 4-9 cm, sparsely pubescent or glabrous, base rounded to broadly cuneate, margin usually subundulate to undulate dentate, rarely entire, apex obtuse to mucronate. Inflorescences terminating leafy lateral branches, dichotomously branched into corymbose cymes, widely spaced, 5-8 cm wide. Flowers dimorphic, sessile. Calyx campanulate, 5-6 mm, 5-lobed; lobes unequal, triangular. Corolla white, ca. as long as calyx; lobes shorter than tube, margin somewhat undulate. Filaments of staminate flowers ca. 3.5 mm, filaments of bisexual flowers 1-2 mm. Rudimentary pistil globose. Style united portion 1-1.5 mm, first branches ca. 1 mm, second branches 2-3 mm; stigma spatulate. Drupes yellow or reddish, subglobose, 1-1.5 cm in diam., with sticky mesocarp, surrounded by persistent calyx. Fl. Feb-Apr, fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 48, 50.
Open woods on slopes, mountain streamsides. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Taiwan, SE Xizang, Yunnan [Cambodia, N India, Indonesia, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Kashmir, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam; NE Australia, Pacific Islands]
The seeds contain oil, the fruit is used for medicine, and the wood is used for house construction and farm tools.