马蛋果 ma dan guo

Chaulmoogra odorata Roxburgh; Chilmoria dodecandra Buchanan-Hamilton.

Trees, evergreen, to 30 m tall; twig tips and branchlets glabrous; bark brown, not flaking; branchlets terete; winter buds ovoid-orbicular. Petiole 1-3 cm, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely appressed puberulous; leaf blade greenish abaxially, deep green adaxially, nearly concolored when dry, oblong-elliptic, rarely ovate-oblong or obovate-oblong, 13-20 × 5-10 cm, leathery, lateral veins 4-8 pairs, conspicuous abaxially, reticulate veins parallel, margin entire, slightly uneven, base rounded or acute-cuneate, apex rounded, contracting abruptly to a short narrow acumen. Pedicels 2.5-5 cm, sparsely appressed hairy or glabrous. Staminate flowers 3-4 cm in diam., fragrant; calyx lobes ca. 7 mm, obtuse to rounded, outside glabrous or with short, sparse, appressed hairs; petals yellowish green, oblong or slightly obovate, 1.5-2 cm, glabrous, apex obtuse; epipetalous scale oblong or ovate, ca. 6 × 4 mm, densely ciliate, apex obtuse; stamens ca. 1 cm, filaments villous, anthers ca. 5 mm. Pistillate flowers larger than staminate flowers; petals ca. 2.5 cm; staminodes 10-15, villous; styles short, slender; stigmas peltate or cordate. Berry yellowish brown, globose, (5-)8-12 cm in diam.; pericarp grayish, ca. 5 mm thick, woody, rugose, glabrous. Seeds numerous, variable in shape and size, usually obovoid to ellipsoid, 2.5-3 cm, hilar region large, silvery gray. Fl. Jan-Feb, fr. Jun-Aug.

Moist sparse forests of mountain valleys; 800-1000 m. SE Xizang (Mêdog), SE Yunnan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal].