台湾木姜子 tai wan mu jiang zi

Litsea obovata Hayata, J. Coll. Sci. Imp. Univ. Tokyo 30(1): 252. 1911, not (Nees) Nees (1836); Cylicodaphne hayatae (Kanehira) Nakai; L. akoensis Hayata var. chitouchiaoensis J. C. Liao; L. akoensis f. hayatae (Kanehira) S. S. Ying; L. akoensis var. hayatae (Kanehira) J. C. Liao; Tetradenia obovata Nemoto (1931), not Nees (1831).

Evergreen small trees. Young branchlets gray-brown pubescent. Leaves alternate; petiole 1-2 cm, gray-yellow pubescent; leaf blade obovate to broadly oblong, 15-20 × 8-10 cm, gray-brown pubescent abaxially, glabrous adaxially except for pubescent midrib, pinninerved, lateral veins 6-9 pairs, base narrowly cuneate, apex rounded-obtuse. Umbels axillary, 5-flowered; peduncle ca. 5 mm, pubescent. Male flowers: pedicel short, villous; perianth segments 6, oblong; fertile stamens 9(-12); filaments glabrous, of 3rd (and 4th) whorls each with 2 stipitate cordate glands at base. Fruit ellipsoid, ca. 8 × 6 mm, seated on cup-shaped perianth tube. Fl. Oct-Nov.

● Evergreen broad-leaved forests; 1500-2500 m. Taiwan.

Liao (Taxon. Rev. Fam. Lauraceae Taiwan, ed. 2, 88. 1995) reduced Litsea hayatae to the synonymy of L. akoensis. However, L. hayatae has larger, wider leaves (15-20 × 8-10 cm vs. 5-15 × 2-4 cm), shorter peduncles (ca. 5 mm vs. 6-15 mm), and glabrous (vs. pubescent) filaments. Litsea akoensis var. chitouchiaoensis was described on the basis of its large broadly obovate leaves, but these characters are quite similar to those of L. hayatae and are within the range of variation for that species.