锡金海棠 xi jin hai dang

Pyrus pashia Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don var. sikkimensis Wenzig, Linnaea 38: 49. 1874; Malus baccata subsp. sikkimensis (Wenzig) Likhonos; P. sikkimensis (Wenzig) J. D. Hooker.

Trees small, 6–8 m tall. Branchlets reddish brown when young, blackish brown when old, terete, gray tomentose when young, subglabrous when old; buds reddish brown, ovoid; scales tomentose at margin. Stipules caducous, lanceolate, 6–8 mm, membranous, glandular at margin, apex acuminate; petiole 2–3 cm, initially densely tomentose, glabrescent; leaf blade elliptic, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, 5–7 × 2–3 cm, abaxially gray tomentose, densely so along veins, later subglabrous, adaxially glabrous, base rounded or broadly cuneate, margin sharply serrate, apex acuminate or caudate-acuminate. Corymbs 5–9 cm in diam., 6–10-flowered; bracts caducous, lanceolate, membranous, margin entire or serrate, apex acuminate. Pedicel 1.5–5 cm, tomentose, later subglabrous. Flowers 2.5–3 cm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, adaxially tomentose, later subglabrous. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, 5–6 mm, longer than hypanthium, both surfaces tomentose, later subglabrous, margin entire, apex acuminate. Petals white adaxially, pink abaxially, suborbicular, 1.2–1.5 cm, base shortly clawed, apex rounded. Stamens 25–30, unequal, ca. 1/2 as long as petals. Ovary 5-loculed, with 2 ovules per locule; styles 5, longer than stamens, connate at base, glabrous. Pome dark red, white punctate, obovoid or pyriform, 1–1. 8 cm in diam. with a small scar at apex; fruiting pedicel 2–2 × ca. 8 cm, slightly tomentose or subglabrous; sepals caducous. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Sep–Oct. 2n = 34*, 51*, 68*.

Open forests on slopes, mixed forests in valleys; 2500--3000 m. W Sichuan, S and SE Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, Nepal, Sikkim].

This is a rare species with small, isolated populations threatened by forest clearing.