化香树 hua xiang shu

Fortunaea chinensis Lindley; Platycarya kwangtungensis Chun; P. longipes Wu; P. simplicifolia G. R. Long; P. simplicifolia var. ternata G. R. Long; P. sinensis Mottet; P. strobilacea var. kawakamii Hayata.

Trees or shrubs to 15 m tall. Leaves (6-)8-30 cm; petiole 1.2-9.2 cm, glabrous; rachis glabrous; leaflets 1-15(-23); lateral leaflets sessile, blade ovate-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, 3-11 × 1.5-3.5 cm, abaxially glabrous, except for dense cluster of hairs at base and along midvein abaxially, base oblique to cuneate; terminal leaflet with petiolule 0.6-3.5 cm, base rounded or broadly cuneate. Androgynous spike 2-10 cm; central spike female in basal 1-3 cm, male in apical 1-3.4 cm, or sometimes absent. Male spikes 2-15 cm; bracts ovate, 2-3 mm, apex acute to acuminate. Female flowers with bract straight or reflexed. Fruiting spike ovoid-ellipsoid or ellipsoid-cylindric to subglobose, 2.5-5 × (1.2-)2-3 cm; bracts lanceolate, 4-10 × 2-3 mm. Nutlets suborbicular to obovate, 3-6 × 3-6 mm. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Oct. 2n = 28.

Mixed forests on mountain slopes, sometimes on limestone; 400-1400(-2200) m. Anhui, Fujian, S Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, Vietnam].

Two variants, Platycarya longipes and Platycarya simplicifolia, restricted to limestone formations, were recognized in earlier treatments; however, sterile specimens of the former intergrade with P. strobilacea, and the latter is clearly a mutant anomaly.

The organogenesis of the inflorescence and flowers have been studied (Li, R. Q., Z. D. Chen & A. M. Lu. 2005. Int. J. Plant Sci. 166: 449-457).