月桂茵芋 yue gui yin yu

Limonia laureola Candolle, Prodr. 1: 536. 1824.

Shrubs to 1.3 m tall. Branches grayish green, dichotomous or nearly whorled. Leaves nearly opposite or whorled, clustered near apex of branches, spreading, with a citrus-leaf odor; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, (4-)7-10(-12) × 2-3 cm, adaxially dark green, shiny, and with translucent oil glands, midvein slender, secondary veins hardly distinguishable, base attenuate, margin entire, apex mucronate. Inflorescences 5-8 cm; rachis stout, angulate. Pedicel puberulent; bracteoles opposite near middle of pedicel, caducous. Sepals ovate, base pubescent, margin ciliate. Petals 5, yellowish, oblong, ca. 3 × as long as sepals, apex obtuse. Stamens 5, erect. Ovary ovoid, 2- or 3-loculed, glabrous, with oil glands; ovules 1(or ?2) per locule; style short; stigma small. Fruit ovoid, 8-10 mm in diam. Fl. Apr, fr. autumn. 2n = 30*, 60.

Evergreen forests; below 2800 m. S Xizang (Yadong) [Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal].