滇鼠刺 dian shu ci

Itea bodinieri H. Léveillé; I. esquirolii H. Léveillé; I. forrestii Y. C. Wu; I. mengtzeana Engler.

Shrubs or small trees, 1-10 m tall. Young branchlets yellow-green, striate; old branchlets dark brown, glabrous. Petiole 0.5-1.5 cm, sulcate adaxially, glabrous; leaf blade abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green or glossy, ovate or elliptic, 5-10 × 2.5-5 cm, thinly leathery, both surfaces glabrous, midvein distinctly raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, secondary veins in 4 or 5 pairs, arcuate, reticulate veins prominent, base obtuse or rounded, margin slightly curved spinose serrate, apex acute or shortly acuminate. Racemes terminal, nodding to pendulous, to 20 cm; rachis puberulous; bracts subulate, ca. 1 mm. Flowers numerous, often 3-clustered; pedicel spreading at anthesis, pendulous in fruit, ca. 2 mm, puberulous. Calyx shallowly cupular; lobes triangular-lanceolate, 1-1.5 mm, puberulous, rarely subglabrous. Petals erect at anthesis, slightly curved apically, pale green, linear-lanceolate, ca. 2.5 mm. Stamens usually shorter than petals; filaments ca. 2 mm, glabrous; anthers oblong. Ovary semi-inferior, glabrous. Style simple; stigma capitate. Capsule conical, 5-6 mm, glabrous. Fl. and fr. May-Dec. 2n = 22*.

* Coniferous, broad-leaved, or mixed forests, streamsides, rocks; 1100-3000 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, SW Sichuan, SE Xizang, Yunnan.

In habit, this species is similar to, and is often confused with, Itea ilicifolia. However, I. yunnanensis differs in having narrower leaf blades, usually more than 2 × as long as wide, with a more densely spinose serrate margin.