猴耳环 hou er huan

Inga clypearia Jack, Malay. Misc. 2(7): 78. 1822; Aba­rema angulata (Bentham) Kostermans; A. clypearia (Jack) Kostermans; Pithecellobium angulatum Bentham; P. clypearia (Jack) Bentham; P. clypearia var. acuminatum Gagnepain.

Trees, to 10 m tall. Branchlets angulate, densely yellow tomentose. Leaf petiole 4-angulate; leaf rachis and base of petiole with glands; glands flat or hollow; pinnae (3 or)4 or 5(-8) pairs, densely yellow tomentose, lowermost pinna with 3-6 pairs of leaflets, uppermost one with 10-12 pairs of leaf­lets; leaflets subsessile, adaxially shiny, oblique, rhombic-trape­zoid, 1-7 × 0.7-3 cm, upper one largest, downward smaller, leathery, both surfaces slightly brown pubescent, base very unequally sided. Corymbs several flowered, arranged in termi­nal or axillary panicles. Flowers pedicellate. Calyx campan­ulate, 1-3 mm, 5-toothed, calyx and corolla densely brown vil­lous. Corolla white or yellowish, 4-5 mm; lobes lanceolate. Sta­mens ca. 2 × as long as corolla, staminal tube equaling corolla tube. Ovary stipitate, hairy. Legume twisted, 1-1.5 cm wide, margin constricted between seeds. Seeds 4-10, black, ellip­soidal or broadly ellipsoidal, ca. 1 cm; testa wrinkled when dry. Fl. Feb-Jun, fr. Apr-Aug.

Forests; 500-1800 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Tai­wan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [tropical Asia].

This plant is important for the tannins contained in its bark.