卵果海桐 luan guo hai tong

Pittosporum ovoideum H. T. Chang & S. Z. Yan (1974), not Gowda (1951).

Shrubs ca. 3 m tall. Young branchlets stout, pubescent; old branchlets lenticellate. Leaves clustered at branchlet apex, biennial; petiole compressed, 1–1.5 cm, narrowly winged distally; leaf blade pale green abaxially, dark green and shiny adaxially, obovate-lanceolate, 7–10 × 2–3(–4.5) cm, thickly leathery, pubescent on both surfaces at first, later glabrate, lateral veins 8–10-paired, convex abaxially, visible adaxially, reticulate veins prominent, base cuneate, decurrent, margin flat, apex acuminate, sometimes obtuse or rounded. Inflorescences in leaf axils at branchlet apex, umbellate; bracts linear, ca. 8 mm; pedicels stout, 1–1.5 cm, pubescent. Sepals lanceolate, ca. 5 × 1–1.5 mm, sparsely pubescent. Petals free, 9–10 × ca. 2 mm. Stamens ca. 6 mm. Ovary pubescent; ovary wall ca. 0.5 mm thick; placentas 2, parietal; ovules 11 or 12 per placenta. Style ca. 4 mm. Capsule strongly compressed globose, 1.3–1.6 cm in diam., dehiscing by 2 valves; pericarp compressed adaxially, 2–3 mm thick, horizontally convex striate. Seeds 16–24, ca. 3 mm; funicle very short. Fl. Mar–May, fr. Jun–Oct.

Forests, thickets, limestone mountains; 200--1100 m. N Guangxi, SE Guizhou.

The name Pittosporum ovoideum has been applied in the sense of P. lenticellatum, but its holotype in fact belongs to P. pauciflorum. Peng and Deng (Novon 11: 440–441. 2001) discussed the situation in detail.