檀梨 tan li

Sphaerocarya edulis Wallich in Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. 2: 371. 1824; Pyrularia bullata P. C. Tam; P. inermis Chien; P. sinensis Y. C. Wu.

Plants 3-5(-15) m tall; bark gray; lenticels oblong. Branches yellowish brown, with or without spines. Petiole 5-8 mm, sparsely pilose; leaf blade 7-15 × 3-6 cm, papery or slightly fleshy, sparsely pilose, midvein adaxially depressed, lateral veins 4-6 pairs, base broadly cuneate, usually oblique, margin entire or ± wavy, apex acuminate or sometimes acute. Inflorescences terminal (or axillary), thyrses, proximal flowers in pedunculate umbels or cymes, distal flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual or unisexual (plants polygamous); perianth tube oblong-ovoid, lobes 5, subtriangular, abaxial surface and pedicels densely pilose. Stamens 4 or 5; filaments ca. 1 mm, glabrous. Disk 4- or 5-lobed. Style short; stigmas 2. Drupe pear-shaped, 3-5 cm, base narrowed into robust stipe, apex nearly truncate, slightly sunken in young fruits, persistent perianth and disk enlarging to more than 5 mm in diam. Seed subglobose; endosperm oily. Fl. Dec-Apr, fr. Aug-Nov.

Forests; 700(-2700) m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim].

The plants have medicinal uses.