天棠大头茶 tian tang da tou cha

Gordonia tiantangensis L. L. Deng & G. S. Fan, J. Trop. Subtrop. Bot. 7: 193. 1999.

Trees 12-15 m tall. Current year branchlets tomentose; terminal buds sericeous pubescent. Petiole 1-1.5 cm, stout, pubescent or glabrescent; leaf blade oblong-elliptic, 10-14 × 3.5-4 cm, thickly leathery, abaxially pale green, adaxially dark
green and shiny, both surfaces glabrous, midvein abaxially elevated and adaxially impressed, secondary veins obscure on both surfaces, base cuneate, margin entire but apically remotely crenate, apex usually retuse. Flowers not seen. Capsule obovate-cylindric, ca. 4.5 × 2-2.8 cm, 6-8-sided, 6-8-loculed, with 6-9 seeds per locule; columella 3-3.8 cm; pedicel 5-8 mm in fruit. Seeds 2-2.5 cm including wing. Fr. Sep.

● Evergreen broad-leaved forests; 1800-2200 m. Yunnan (Changning).

This species is very close to Polyspora longicarpa. Whether or not plants with an ovary and capsule having more than 5 locules should be maintained as a distinct species needs additional study.

W. McNamara & B.Bartholomew (Curtis’s Botanical Magazine 38 (2): 225–232. 2021) has recently reduced Polyspora tiantangensis to a synonym of P. longicarpa.