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Daphne pachyrachis (S. L. Tsai) Halda.

Shrubs 1-4 m tall. Branches dark brown, stout, sparsely pubescent, glabrescent, nodes swollen, internodes short. Leaves opposite, densely crowded; petiole 2(-8) mm; leaf blade dark green when dried, glossy adaxially, light green abaxially, obovate-elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 2.5-7 × 1-1.8(-2.5) cm, stiffly papery, abaxially covered with fine scales, base broadly cuneate or obtuse, margin slightly revolute, apex acute or obtuse; lateral veins (5-)8-15 pairs, conspicuous abaxially, dark and obscure adaxially. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, capitate, erect, often 15-26-flowered; peduncle to 0.5 cm, stout, sparsely pubescent. Pedicel almost absent. Calyx yellowish green, salverform-cylindric, 8-10 mm, exterior sparsely puberulous; lobes 4, ovate, ca. 2 mm, apex obtuse. Stamens 8, inserted above middle of calyx tube. Disk scales 1-3, linear, ca. 1/3 as long as ovary, membranous, apex lobed or truncate. Ovary obovoid-ellipsoid, sessile, apex pubescent or glabrous; style short; stigma capitate. Drupe red, pyriform-ovoid, 6-8 × ca. 4 mm. Fl. Sep-Oct, fr. winter.

● Open forests, rocky shrubby slopes; relatively high elevations. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan (Gan’en).