Sarcococca saligna (D. Don) Müller Argoviensis

The leaves and shoots are boiled and applied on swollen joints or in pain.

Evergreen, up to 2 m tall, glabrous shrub with green bark and profuse wandy branches. Leaves narrow to broadly lanceolate or very narrowly ovate, occasionally subfalcate, 5.5-9.5 cm long, l-2.2 cm broad, distinctly 3-nerved, attenuate at the base, acuminate to caudate, acute; petiole 0.5-1.3 cm long. Racemes either male or female or mixed with male flowers towards the apex and female ones at the base; male racemes c. 6-8 mm long, females c. 1 cm long. Flowers almost sessile, greenish-white, unisexual; bracts ovate, c. 2 mm long. Sepals elliptic to broadly elliptic, 2-3 mm long, c. l.5-2 mm wide, obtuse. Stamens with 6-7 mm long filaments, anthers 2-3 mm long. Ovary tricarpellary; styles 3 from outer edges of the ovary, longer than the sepals, flattened. Drupe subglobose, c. 7-8 mm long, purple, smooth, tipped with style bases.

Shrubs, 3-5 m tall; rhizome ramified from base; young branches light green, longitudinally ribbed, glabrous. Petiole slender, 5-8 mm; leaf blade lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, usually 6-8 × 1.2-2 cm, papery, deep green adaxially, lucid, light green abaxially, densely and very minutely punctate, base cuneate, apex long acuminate, obtuse, or slightly mucronate at tip; midrib elevated on both surfaces, lateral veins pinnate, basal a subtriplinerved pair, distance 6-8 mm from base. Inflorescences short racemes, erect, ca. 1 cm; rachis pubescent. Flowers light yellow. Male flowers 5 or 6, inserted apically; pedicels short; bracteoles 2, or apical part ebracteolate; tepals long ovate, ca. 3 mm, acute. Female flowers 2 or 3, inserted basally; bracteoles several, ovate, densely imbricate, acute; tepals similar to bracteoles in shape. Fruit globose or subellipsoid, ca. 6 mm in diam., darkly purple when mature; persistent styles 3, ca. 1.5 mm, apices recurved; carpopodium 4-5 mm. Fl. Sep-Dec.

Afghanistan, Himalaya (Hazara to Nepal).

Distribution: A common gregarious shrub of moist and shady places in W. Himalayas from Afghanistan to Kumaon between 1-3000 m.

Taiwan, S Xizang (Gyirong, Nyalam) [Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Pakistan].

1900-2300 m

Fl.Per.: September-April.

Evergreen forests; 1200-2300 m.

Buxus saligna D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 63. 1825; Sarcococca pruniformis Lindley var. angustifolia Lindley; S. salicifolia Baillon.