大头茶 da tou cha

Camellia axillaris Roxburgh ex Ker Gawler, Bot. Reg. 4: t. 349. 1818; Castanopsis camelliifolia H. Léveillé; Gordonia anomala Sprengel; G. axillaris (Roxburgh ex Ker Gawler) D. Dietrich; G. axillaris var. nantoensis H. Keng; G. shimadae Ohwi; G. tagawae Ohwi; G. tonkinensis Pitard; Polyspora axillaris var. nantoensis (H. Keng) S. S. Ying; P. shimadae (Ohwi) Ohwi; P. tagawae (Ohwi) S. S. Ying; P. tonkinensis (Pitard) B. M. Bartholomew & T. L. Ming.

Shrubs or trees, to 9 m tall. Current year branchlets stout, glabrous; terminal buds pubescent. Petiole 1-1.5 cm, glabrous; leaf blade obovate-oblong to oblanceolate, 6-14 × 2.5-4 cm, thickly leathery, abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green and shiny, both surfaces glabrous, midvein abaxially elevated and adaxially slightly impressed, secondary veins obscure on both surfaces, base cuneate and decurrent, margin entire or apically remotely crenate, apex rounded to obtuse and usually retuse. Flowers axillary, solitary or paired, 7-10 cm in diam. Pedicel 2-3 mm, glabrous; bracteoles 6 or 7, caducous. Sepals 5, persistent in young fruit, ovate, 1-1.5 cm, outside white villous, inside glabrous. Petals 5, white, broadly obovate, 3.5-5 cm, apex emarginate. Stamens 1.5-2 cm, glabrous, basally adnate with petals. Ovary tomentose, 5-loculed; style ca. 2 cm, densely velutinous. Capsule cylindric, 2-3.5(-4) × 1.5-2.5 cm. Seeds together with wing 1.5-2 cm. Fl. Sep-Oct, fr. Nov-Dec. 2n = 30.

Forests, thickets; 100-800(-2300) m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan [Vietnam].