马桑(Coriaria sinica Maxim)为马桑科落叶灌木,是海拔1300米以下灌木林树种的建群种之一。以马桑为主形成的马桑灌丛,广泛分布于河南、四川、贵州、云南、湖南及陕西秦岭以南的石灰岩山地。据云南腾冲地质资料表明,马桑在新第三纪已经存在,是起源古老的植物。马桑小枝红褐色。叶对生,纸质至薄革质,卵状椭圆形至宽椭圆形,三出脉。总状花序,花杂性,花瓣近卵圆形,后渐增大而肉质化,宿存,浆果状瘦果,扁圆形,成熟时由红色变成紫黑色,花期3～4月,果期 Coriaria sinica Maxim is a deciduous shrub belonging to the Sangacaceae, and is one of the colonized species of shrub species below 1,300 meters above sea level. Masson-dominated shrublands are widely distributed in the limestone mountains south of Qinling Mountains in Henan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hunan and Shaanxi. According to the geological data of Tengchong, Yunnan, Masson already existed in the Neogene, and is an ancient plant of origin. Massan twig red-brown. Leaves opposite, paper to thinly leathery, ovate-oval to broadly oval, three veins. Racemes, flowers polygamous, petals nearly ovoid, later gradually enlarged and fleshy, persistent, berry-like achenes, oblate, ripening from red to purple-black, flowering from March to April, fruit stage