乌来冬青 wu lai dong qing

Ilex formosae (Loesener) H. L. Li; I. mertensii Maxim owicz var. formosae Loesener; I. uraiensis var. formosae (Loesener) S. Y. Hu; I. uraiensis var. macrophylla S. Y. Hu.

Trees evergreen, to 25 m tall. Branchlets subterete, longitudinally ridged, when young puberulent or glabrescent; third year’s branchlets longitudinally minutely fissured, glabrous, lenticels absent, with slightly raised, semilunar leaf scars. Leaves on first to second year’s branchlets; petiole 6-10 mm, adaxially narrowly sulcate, distal half winged by decurrent leaf base; leaf blade abaxially greenish, adaxially green, shiny, elliptic or obovate-elliptic, 3.5-10 × 1.2-3.5 cm, thickly leathery, both surfaces glabrous, midvein slightly impressed adaxially, lateral veins 8 or 9 pairs, raised on both surfaces, reticulate veins raised on both surfaces, base cuneate, margin sparsely serrate, apex shortly and abruptly acuminate. Inflorescences: 1-flowered cymes, fasciculate, axillary on second or third year’s branchlets. Male inflorescences: bracts suborbicular, ciliate; pedicels 3-5 mm, puberulent; bracteoles 2, basal, ciliate; flowers white, 4-merous; calyx patelliform, ca. 2 mm in diam., 4-lobed, lobes orbicular, ciliate; petals 4, obovate-orbicular, 3-5 × ca. 2.5 mm, ciliate, basally slightly connate; stamens 4, longer than petals, anthers oblong-ovoid, ca. 1.25 mm; rudimentary ovary subglobose, apex rounded or slightly depressed. Female flowers not known. Infructescences: bracts oblong-ovate, puberulent, ciliate; fruiting pedicels 6-8 mm, slender, pubescent; bracteoles 2, deltoid, puberulent, ciliate. Fruit red, globose, ca. 1.1 cm in diam.; persistent calyx suborbicular, ciliate; persistent stigma navel-like, ca. 2.5 mm in diam.; pyrenes 4, oblong, 7-8 mm, ca. 4.5 mm in diam., both ends obtuse, abaxially flattened and depressed, laterally irregularly striate and rugose, endocarp stony. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Jul-Dec.

Broad-leaved forests, hills; 800-2000 m. Fujian, Taiwan (Pingdong, Taibei) [Japan (Ryukyu Islands)].