中文名（Chinese Name）：南蛇藤
学名（Scientific Name）：Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.
英文名（English Common Name）：Oriental bittersweet
别名（Chinese Common Name）：蔓性落霜红、南蛇风
异名（Synonym）：Celastrus articulatus var. pubescens Makino  Celastrus orbiculatus f. major Loes.  Celastrus orbiculatus f. microphyllus Loes.  Celastrus tartarinowii Rupr.  Celastrus jeholensis Nakai apud Nakai et Kitag.  Celastrus orbiculata Thunb.  Ilex leucantha Hassk.  Catha articulata G.Don  Celastrus articulatus var. stephanotiifolius Makino  Celastrus insularis Koidz.  Celastrus stephanotiifolius (Makino) Makino  Celastrus tatarinowii Rupr.  Celastrus versicolor Nakai
科属（Family & Genus）：卫矛科（Celastraceae）南蛇藤属
形态特征（Description）：小枝光滑无毛，灰棕色或棕褐色，具稀而不明显的皮孔；腋芽小，卵状到卵圆状，长1-3毫米。叶通常阔倒卵形，近圆形或长方椭圆形，长5-13厘米，宽3-9厘米，先端圆阔，具有小尖头或短渐尖，基部阔楔形到近钝圆形，边缘具锯齿，两面光滑无毛或叶背脉上具稀疏短柔毛，侧脉3-5对；叶柄细长1-2厘米。聚伞花序腋生，间有顶生，花序长1-3厘米，小花1-3朵，偶仅1-2朵，小花梗关节在中部以下或近基部；雄花萼片钝三角形；花瓣倒卵椭圆形或长方形，长3-4厘米，宽2-2.5毫米；花盘浅杯状，裂片浅，顶端圆钝；雄蕊长2-3毫米，退化雌蕊不发达；雌花花冠较雄花窄小，花盘稍深厚，肉质，退化雄蕊极短小；子房近球状，花柱长约1.5毫米，柱头3深裂，裂端再2浅裂。蒴果近球状，直径8-10毫米；种子椭圆状稍扁，长4-5毫米，直径2.5-3毫米，赤褐色。花期5-6月，果期7-10月。
分布（Distribution）：产东北、华北、西北及西南等省区，生于海拔450-2200米的山坡灌丛中。朝鲜、日本也有。
用途（Use）：
引自中国植物志英文版FOC Vol. 11 Page 467, 471      
Celastrus orbiculatus Thunberg in Murray, Syst. Veg., ed. 14. 237. 1784.
南蛇藤 nan she teng | Celastraceae  | Celastrus
Celastrus articulatus Thunberg; C. articulatus var. pubescens Makino; C. jeholensis Nakai; C. oblongifolius Hayata; C. tartarinowii Ruprecht.
Deciduous twining shrubs; branchlets glabrous, gray- brown or brown, with sparse and inconspicuous lenticels; axillary buds small, ovate to elliptic, 1-3 mm. Petiole slender, 1-2 cm; leaf blade generally broadly ovate, suborbicular, or rectangular-elliptic, 5-13 × 3-9 cm, glabrous or abaxially sparsely pubescent on veins, base broadly cuneate to obtuse-orbicular, margin serrate, apex broadly rounded, muriculate, or shortly acuminate; secondary veins 3-5 pairs. Cymes axillary, sometimes terminal, 1-3 cm, 1-7-flowered; pedicels jointed below middle or nearly to base. Male flowers: sepals obtuse-triangular; petals obovate-elliptic to rectangular, 3-4 × 2-2.5 mm; disk shallowly cupuliform, lobe shallow, apex rounded-obtuse; stamens 2-3 mm. Female flowers: corolla relatively shorter than that of male flower; disk slightly thick, carnose; staminodes very short; ovary approximately globose; styles ca. 1.5 mm; stigma deeply 3-lobed, lobe apex shallowly 2-lobed. Capsule approximately globose, 8-13 mm wide, yellow, 3-valved. Seeds elliptic, slightly flat, 4-5 × 2.5-3 mm, reddish brown; aril orange-red. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Oct.
Mixed forests, forest margins, thickets on grassy slopes; 400-2200 m. Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].
This is one of the most widely distributed Celastrus species in China. The ripe fruit is used in Chinese traditional medicine, called "wattle flower" in NE and N China. The bark is used for fine fiber, and seed oiliness is 50%. It is also widely distributed in Asia and its leaf morphology is very variable.（责任编辑：徐晔春）