川西瑞香 chuan xi rui xiang

Daphne ambigua Matsuda; Wikstroemia gemmata (E. Pritzel) Domke.

Shrubs normally deciduous, 0.3-1 m tall, much branched. Branches erect, broomlike, pale yellowish green, turning yellowish brown to gray-brown, pubescent. Leaves alternate, clustered apically; petiole 1-2 mm, pubescent; leaf blade obovate-lanceolate, 2.5-8 × 0.6-2.2(-3) cm, membranous, both surfaces sparsely pubescent, with apical tuft of hairs, base cuneate, apex obtuse-rounded; veins 7-12 pairs. Inflorescences terminal, condensed-spicate, 5-10-flowered; peduncle ca. 2 mm, pubescent; bracts caducous, ovate-rhomboid, ca. 5 mm, pubescent. Pedicel almost absent. Calyx yellow; tube curved-cylindric, 10-15 mm, slender, exterior sericeous; lobes 5, oblong-ovate, 4-5 × 2-3 mm, obtuse-subtruncate, pubescent apically. Stamens 10, both whorls inserted below middle of calyx tube; filaments short; anthers oblong, ca. 1 mm. Disk subcylindric to ± square, lateral to ovary, sometimes 2-lobed. Ovary ovoid, 1-2.5 mm, shortly stipitate, sparsely pubescent; style very short; stigma capitate. Drupe red, ellipsoid, 4-5 mm, often enclosed in persistent calyx. Fl. Apr-Sep, fr. Aug-Dec.

● Cliffs, dry sunny banks; 400-1500(-1800) m. NW and W Sichuan, N Yunnan.