假柿木姜子 jia shi mu jiang zi

Tetranthera monopetala Roxburgh, Pl. Coromandel 2: 26. 1798; Litsea polyantha Jussieu.

Evergreen trees up to 18 m tall, ca. 15 cm d.b.h. Branchlets densely ferruginous pubescent. Leaves alternate; petiole 1-3 cm, densely hairy like branchlets; leaf blade broadly ovate or obovate to ovate-oblong, 8-20 × 4-12 cm, densely ferruginous pubescent abaxially, along midrib ferruginous pubescent adaxially when young, pinninerved, lateral veins 8-12 pairs, base rounded or acute, apex obtuse or rounded, rarely acute. Umbels clustered on shortest branchlets, 4-6-flowered or more; peduncle 4-6 mm. Male flowers: pedicel 6-7 mm, ferruginous pubescent; perianth segments 5 or 6, yellow-white, lanceolate; fertile stamens 9; filaments pubescent, of 3rd whorls each with 2 stipitate glands at base. Fruit long ovoid, ca. 7 × 5 mm, seated on shallowly discoid perianth tube; fruiting pedicel ca. 1 cm. Fl. Nov-May or Jun of next year, fr. Jun-Jul.

Thickets or sparse forests on sunny slopes; below 1500 m, but mostly found on hills at low elevations. Guangdong, Guangxi, SW Guizhou, Hainan, S Yunnan [Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam].

The wood is used for furniture. The seed core contains ca. 30% oil and is used for industrial oil. The leaves are used as a topical medicine for the treatment of arthritis.