21. Spiraea velutina Franchet, Pl. Delavay. 201. 1889.
绒毛绣线菊 rong mao xiu xian ju
Shrubs to 2 m tall. Branchlets spreading, yellow-brown turning gray-brown, robust, slightly angled, densely villous when young, gradually glabrescent; buds long ovoid, nearly equaling to longer than petioles, with 2 scales, densely tomentose-villous, apex acuminate. Petiole 3–5 mm, densely villous; leaf blade adaxially dark green, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 3–8 × 1.5–3.5 cm, subglabrous on both surfaces or abaxially densely sericeous-villous (especially on veins) and adaxially pilose, base cuneate, margin coarsely serrate with a few double teeth, apex acute. Corymbs terminal on short, lateral branchlets, compound, 3–6 × 4–7 cm, sometimes to 14 cm in fruit, many flowered; rachis and pedicels thinly villous; pedicels 5–7 mm; bracts linear-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 5–7 mm, villous on both surfaces. Flowers 5–6 mm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, villous abaxially. Sepals triangular, 1–2 mm, reflexed in fruit, apex acute. Petals white, suborbicular, 2–3 × 2–3 mm, apex obtuse. Stamens ca. 20, longer than petals. Disk annular, 10-lobed; lobes broad, apex usually emarginate. Styles shorter than stamens. Follicles spreading, densely gray-white villous; styles terminal, slightly divergent. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Aug–Oct.
Broad-leaved and mixed forests, thickets, slopes, gullies, river banks; 2000--3300 m. Xizang, Yunnan.
