七子花 qi zi hua

Heptacodium jasminoides Airy Shaw.

Shrubs, to 7 m tall. Young branches red-brown, sparsely pubescent. Petiole ca. 10 mm; leaf blade ovate, 8-15 × 5-9 cm, leathery, abaxially sparsely pubescent on veins, base obtuse to subcordate, apex acuminate to long acuminate. Inflorescence a subpyramidal panicle of capitula, 5-15 × 5-9 cm. Capitulum with involucral bracts and bracts variously shaped, unequal in size, pair of involucral bracts often emarginate. Flowers white, fragrant. Sepals 2-2.5 mm, equaling ovary at anthesis. Style hairy. Corolla 1-1.5 cm, densely adpressed hairy. Achene ca. 10 mm, protruding from involucre, striate, hirsute-sericeous; persistent calyx with spreading sepals to 7-10 mm; seeds 5-6 mm. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Sep-Nov.

● Cliffs, scrub, forests; 600-1000 m. Anhui, Hubei, Zhejiang.

This is a rare species.