巫山牛奶子 wu shan niu nai zi

Shrubs, deciduous, erect, 3-5 m tall. Spines absent or sparse; older stems blackish, glabrous; young branches densely brown scaly. Petiole yellowish brown, 3-5 mm; leaf blade abaxially silvery white, adaxially drying light green, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 3.3-8.5 × 1.3-3.3 cm, papery or membranous, abaxially with rust-colored speckles when older, scales overlapping, margins shallowly lacerate/fimbriate, adaxially with scales somewhat persistent, lateral veins ca. 7 per side of midrib, slightly raised on both surfaces of older leaves, base rounded or obtuse, margin entire, apex acuminate to obtuse. Flowers 1-3 in axils of new leaves. Pedicel ca. 3 mm, scaly; fruiting pedicel 8-16 mm, thick. Flowers white. Calyx tube tubular-obconic, 4-angled, 5-6 mm; lobes triangular, 3-4 mm, inside glabrous, apex acute. Filaments ca. 0.7 mm; anthers elliptic, ca. 1.2 mm. Style erect, glabrous or with sparse stellate hairs; stigma ca. 3 mm. Drupe red, narrowly ellipsoid, 1.2-1.4 cm, with dense rust-colored scales. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Aug-Sep.

● Eastern edges of forests, roadsides; 1400-2300 m. Chongqing, W Hubei, S Shanxi, NE Sichuan.