金丝李 jin si li

Trees 3-15(-25) m tall. Bark gray-black, white spotted. Young branchlets dark purple, depressed tetragonous, longitudinally sulcate when dry. Stipules 2, ca. 1 mm; petiole 0.8-1.5 cm; leaf blade purple-red when young, abaxially greenish or glaucous when dry, adaxially dark green, elliptic, elliptic-oblong, or ovate-oblong, 8-14 × 2.5-6.5 cm, membranous when young, becoming subleathery, midvein raised abaxially; secondary veins 5-8 pairs, raised on both surfaces, curved and connected at leaf margin; tertiary veins sinuous, parallel, joined by veinlets, slightly raised on both surfaces, base broadly cuneate, rarely rounded, margin cartilaginous, involute, apex acute or shortly acuminate, with obtuse or rounded acumen. Plant monoecious. Male flowers 4-10, in terminal and axillary short pedunculate cymes; pedicels robust, slightly tetragonous, 3-5 mm, 2-bracteolate at base; sepals 4, nearly equal, suborbicular, ca. 3 mm; petals ovate, ca. 5 mm, margin membranous and subtransparent, apex obtuse; stamen fascicles connate forming a 4-lobed ring of 300-400 stamens; free part of filaments very short; anthers narrowly elliptic, 2-celled, cells longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode subtetragonous; stigma peltate, convex. Female flowers usually solitary and axillary, slightly larger than male ones; staminodes of fascicles 4; fascicle stalks complanate, lamellate, shorter than ovary, each fascicle with 6-8 rudimentary anthers; ovary globose, ca. 2.5 mm, not angular, 1-loculed; stigma peltate, convex, smooth, entire. Mature fruit ellipsoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, 3.2-3.5 × 2.2-2.5 cm, smooth; sepals persistent. Seeds 2. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Nov-Dec.

● Rather dry sparse or dense forests on limestone mountains; 300-800 m. SW and W Guangxi, SE Yunnan (Malipo).

This is a valuable timber species but is vulnerable to extirpation because of its restricted and scattered distribution, overcutting, and poor seed germination and natural reproduction. The wood is hard, heavy, and extremely water-tolerant. It is used for shipbuilding, construction, quality furniture, and in the military industry.

The species is similar to Garcinia stipulata T. Anderson but differs in having fewer secondary leaf veins, smaller male flowers, shorter pedicels, and a usually 1-seeded fruit.