川滇无患子 chuan dian wu huan zi

Pancovia delavayi Franchet, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 33: 461. 1886.

Trees, deciduous, ca. 10 m tall. Bark black-brown; branches pubescent. Leaves with petiole 25-35 cm or longer, axis pilose; leaflets 4-6(or 7) pairs, opposite or sometimes nearly alternate; petiolules usually less than 1 cm; blades ovate or ovate-oblong, bilaterally often asymmetrical, 6-14 × 2.5-5 cm, papery, slightly nitid, only villous on midvein and lateral veins, abaxially sparsely villous or subglabrous, rarely glabrous, lateral veins to 18 pairs, slender, base obtuse, apex acute. Inflorescences terminal, erect, often 3 × branched, main rachis and branches stronger, villous. Flowers zygomorphic; buds globose. Pedicels ca. 2 mm. Sepals 5, smaller ones broadly ovate, 2-2.5 mm, larger ones oblong, ca. 3.5 mm, base of abaxial surface and margin villous. Petals 4(5 or 6), narrowly lanceolate, ca. 5.5 mm; scales large, nearly as long as 2/3 of petals, margin densely tomentose. Disk semilunar, thick. Stamens 8, slightly exserted. Fertile schizocarps yellow, subglobose, ca. 2.2 cm in diam. Fl. early summer, fr. late autumn.

● Forests; 1200-2600 m. Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan.

This species is used medicinally and for timber.