红茴香 hong hui xiang

Illicium henryi var. multistamineum A. C. Smith; I. pseudosimonsii Q. Lin; I. silvestrii Pavolini.

Shrubs or trees, to 8(-12) m tall. Perules small, inconspicuous. Leaves in clusters of 2-5 at distal nodes; petiole 0.7-2 cm; leaf blade oblanceolate, long lanceolate, or obovate-elliptic, 6-18 × 1.2-5(-6) cm, leathery, midvein adaxially impressed, secondary veins 5-8 on each side of midvein and inconspicuous, base cuneate, apex long acuminate. Flowers axillary or subterminal. Flower peduncle 1.5-5 cm. Tepals 10-15, pink to dark red, oblong-elliptic to broadly elliptic (largest), 7-10 × 4-8.5 mm (largest). Stamens 11-14, 2.2-3.5 mm; filaments 1.2-2.3 mm; connectives inconspicuously truncate; anthers 0.9-1.2 mm; pollen grains trisyncolpate. Carpels 7-9(-12), 3-5 mm; ovary 1.5-2 mm; style 2-3.3 mm. Fruit peduncle 1.5-5.5 cm. Fruit with 7-9 follicles; follicles 12-20 × 5-8 × 3-4 mm. Seeds 6.5-7.5 × 5-5.5 × 2.5-3 mm. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Aug-Oct.

● Forests, hills, thickets, ravines, wet places; 300-2500 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan.

This species is grown as an ornamental and used medicinally. The fruit are poisonous.