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The Taiwan maesa (Maesa perlaria var. formosana) belongs to Myrsinaceae (the Myrsine family). It is a small evergreen tree that is distributed from southern Kyushu in Japan to the Nansei Islands, as well as in Taiwan, southern China, and the Indochina Peninsula. It grows in slightly moist forests ranging from lowlands to mountainous areas and reaches a height of 1 to 3 m. The trunk is grayish-brown and highly branched, with numerous lenticels on the twigs. The leaves are elliptical to oblong, with wavy or coarsely serrated margins, and are arranged alternately. There are 6 to 9 pairs of lateral veins on each leaf. From March to April, it produces white flowers in panicles or, rarely, racemes, emerging from the leaf axils. The fruit is a spherical berry that ripens to white. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "台灣山桂花".
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