山蕉 shan jiao

Trees to 10 m tall. Branches densely hairy when young. Petiole 6-8.5 mm, sparsely hairy; leaf blade lanceolate, (8-)10-14 × 3-4.5 cm, leathery, abaxially subglabrous to sparsely hairy, adaxially glabrous, secondary veins 7-9 on each side of midvein, base broadly cuneate, apex acute. Inflorescence rachides unbranched, internodes short. Pedicel 1.2-2 cm; bracteoles 1.5-3.5 × 2-4 mm. Sepals ovate, 3-4 × 3-3.5 mm. Outer petals white turning yellow, elliptic to ovate, 1.8-2.5 × 1.1-2 cm, margin never undulate; inner petals purple, 1.1-1.3 × 0.6-0.9 cm. Stamens 1.5-1.9 mm. Carpels 7 or 8, 2-2.5 mm; ovules 8-10 per carpel. Fruiting pedicel ca. 1.3 cm; monocarp stipes 1.4-1.8 cm; monocarps obovoid, ca. 3.8 × 2.5 cm, sparsely hairy, smooth, with longitudinal ridge. Seeds ca. 1.2 × 1 cm. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Sep-Oct.

Riverine forests; ca. 800 m. Guangxi, S Guizhou, Hainan, S Yunnan [Laos, Malaysia (peninsular), Vietnam].

Previous workers (e.g., FRPS 30(2): 58. 1979) have confused Mitrephora macclurei with M. teysmannii Scheffer (generally under the synonym M. maingayi J. D. Hooker & Thomson). They are most easily distinguished by the outer petals, which in M. teysmannii are cream-colored with reddish streaks (becoming dark yellow with reddish brown streaks with age) and have undulate margins, whereas in M. macclurei the outer petals are uniformly white (becoming yellow with age) and lack undulate margins. The Chinese material corresponds to M. macclurei. It is cultivated in Guangdong.