西南山茶 xi nan shan cha

Shrubs or trees, 3-7(-9) m tall. Young branches grayish brown; current year branchlets purplish brown, glabrous. Petiole 7-12 mm, glabrous or sometimes adaxially pubescent; leaf blade elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or oblong-oblanceolate, 6-10(-14) × 2.5-3.5(-8.4) cm, thinly to thickly leathery, abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green, both surfaces glabrous, midvein raised on both surfaces, secondary veins 6-8 on each side of midvein, slender, and visible to slightly raised or sometimes obscure on both surfaces or rarely adaxially impressed, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, margin serrulate or apiculately serrulate, apex acuminate to caudate. Flowers subterminal, solitary, subsessile, 5-6(-10) cm in diam. Bracteoles and sepals 9-10, caducous, membranous, margin ciliolate; outer 4 bracteoles and sepals lunate to semiorbicular, 2-5 mm, outside glabrous or glabrescent; inner bracteoles and sepals orbicular to broadly obovate, 1-2 cm, outside pubescent or glabrous, inside glabrous. Petals 5 or 6, rose, pink, or white, obovate to broadly obovate, 3-4.5(-8) × 2-3.5(-4.4) cm, basally connate for ca. 1 cm, apex emarginate. Stamens 2-3(-5.1) cm, glabrous; outer filament whorl basally connate for 1-1.5(-2.8) cm. Ovary globose, tomentose, 3-loculed; style 2-2.7 cm, glabrous or basally tomentose. Capsule oblate, 2.5-3.5(-7) × 3-5(-8) cm, 3-loculed; pericarp 2-3 mm thick when dry, splitting into 3 valves. Seeds brown, globose to semiglobose, 1-1.5 cm in diam., glabrous. Fl. Dec-Mar, fr. Aug-Oct.

● Forests, thickets; 500-2500(-2700) m. N and NE Guangxi, Guizhou, W Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, NE and SE Yunnan.