灰色紫金牛 hui she zi jin niu

Embelia fordii (Hemsley) Mez.

Shrubs 30-60 cm tall, stoloniferous. Stems rusty scaly and puberulent when young. Petiole ca. 3 mm; leaf blade elliptic-lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2.4-5.5 × 1-1.6 cm, papery, glabrous, rusty scaly abaxially, base cuneate to subrounded, margin entire, apex obtuse or acuminate; lateral veins numerous, marginal vein evident. Inflorescences terminal on specialized lateral branches 6-9 cm, umbellate, few flowered, rusty scaly; bracts 2, lanceolate, minute, inserted at base of pedicel. Flowers pink, ca. 4 mm. Pedicel slender, ca. 7 mm. Sepals ovate, ca. 1.5 mm, punctate, ± minutely scaly, margin ciliate, apex acute or subrounded. Petals broadly ovate, ca. 4 mm, glabrous, punctate, apex acute. Stamens ca. 1.5 mm; anthers ovate, acute, apiculate, not punctate on back. Pistil shorter than petals; ovary glabrous, punctate; ovules ca. 5, uniseriate. Fruit dark red, globose, ca. 5-7(-9) mm in diam., sparsely scaly, punctate, smooth, not ribbed. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Oct-Dec.

* Evergreen broad-leaved forests, hillsides, valleys, along streams, damp and dark places; 100-800 m. Guangdong, Guangxi

It is possible that specimens of A. fordii actually represent seedlings of A. quinquegona with precocious flowers, but because no field data are available, they are treated as distinct pending further studies.