湖北紫荆 hu bei zi jing

Cercis funiushanensis S. Y. Wang & T. B. Chao; C. pubescens S. Y. Wang; C. yunnanensis H. H. Hu & W. C. Cheng.

Trees, 6-20 m tall. Trunk to 30 cm d.b.h. or more. Bark and branchlets grayish black. Petiole 2-4.5 cm; leaf blade often purplish red when young, greenish when mature, cordate or triangular-orbicular, 5-12(-20) × 4.5-11.5(-18) cm, thickly pa­pery to subleathery, adaxially shiny, glabrous or comose-pubes­cent in vein axils, principal veins (5-)7, base shallowly to deeply cordate, rarely truncate, apex obtuse or acute. Raceme short; rachis 5-10 mm, 4-12-flowered. Flowers light purplish red or pink, 1.3-1.5 cm; pedicel 1-2.3 cm, slender. Legume purplish red, broadly linear, (7-)9-15 × 1.2-1.5 cm, wing 2-2.3 mm, sutures unequal (rarely equal), dorsal suture slightly longer, base rounded to acuminate, apex acuminate; stipe 2-3 mm. Seeds 1-8, compressed, suborbicular, 6-7 × 5-6 mm. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Sep-Nov.

● Open or dense forests, mountain slopes, along valleys near roads, on rocks; 600-1900 m. Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang.

Plants called "Cercis gigantea Cheng et Keng f." (in Wei & He, Fl. Zhejiang. 3: 279. 1993) may represent a distinct species, but too little material was available to be certain. This needs further study. The name was not validly published because no Latin description or diagnosis was provided and no type was indicated (Vienna Code, Art. 36.1, 37.1).