茵芋 yin yu

Ilex reevesiana Fortune, Gard. Chron. 1851: 5. 1851; Skimmia arisanensis Hayata; S. distinctevenulosa Hayata; S. fortunei Masters; S. hainanensis C. C. Huang; S. japonica Thunberg var. distinctevenulosa (Hayata) C. E. Chang; S. japonica subsp. reevesiana (Fortune) N. P. Taylor & Airy Shaw; S. japonica var. reevesiana (Fortune) N. P. Taylor; S. orthoclada Hayata.

Shrubs 1-2 m tall. Branches with hollow pith; bark pale grayish green, smooth, cracked when dry. Leaves clustered at branch apex, with a citrus-leaf odor; petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade elliptic, lanceolate, ovate, or oblanceolate, 5-12 × 1.5-4 cm, leathery, midvein adaxially puberulent, base cuneate, apex mucronate to obtuse or acuminate. Inflorescences puberulent, with condensed flowers. Flowers male, female, or bisexual, (3 or)4- or 5-merous, fragrant. Sepals rounded, 1-1.5 mm, margin ciliate. Petals yellowish white, 3-5 mm. Stamens (3 or)4 or 5. Male flowers: rudimentary ovary compressed globose, entire or shallowly 2-4-lobed, apex mucronate. Female flowers: ovary subglobose; style elongated; stigma capitate. Fruit red, globose to ellipsoid-obovoid, 0.8-1.5 cm, 2-4-seeded. Seeds compressed ovoid, 5-9 × 4-6 mm. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Sep-Nov. 2n = 60*.

Montane moss forests; 1200-2600 m. S Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, E Yunnan, Zhejiang [Myanmar, Philippines, S Vietnam].

Taylor (Kew Mag. 4: 182, 183. 1987) treated Skimmia reevesiana as S. japonica subsp. reevesiana and placed S. arisanensis, S. distinctevenulosa, S. hainanensis, and S. orthoclada in synonymy of S. japonica var. reevesiana.