美丽新木姜子 mei li xin mu jiang zi

Litsea pulchella Meisner in A. Candolle, Prodr. 15(1): 224. 1864; L. zeylanica Nees & T. Nees var. chinensis Bentham.

Small trees, 6-8 m tall. Young branchlets and petioles covered with brown pubescence and becoming glabrate. Leaves alternate or clustered toward apex of branchlet, subverticillate; petiole 6-8 mm; leaf blade elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 4-6 × 2-3 cm, thickly leathery, glaucous, gray villous, and becoming glabrous or glabrate abaxially, shiny and glabrous when young adaxially, except pubescent along midrib, triplinerved, lateral veins 2 or 3 pairs, lowermost pair arising 4-6 mm from base, other pairs arising from above middle of blade. Umbels axillary, solitary, or 2- or 3-fascicled, male umbel 4- or 5-flowered. Perianth segments 4, elliptic. Male flowers: fertile stamens 6; filaments below middle villous, of 3rd whorls each with 2 stipitate rounded small glands at base; rudimentary pistil lacking. Fruit globose, 4-6 mm in diam., seated on shallowly discoid perianth tube; fruiting pedicel 5-6 mm. Fl. Oct-Nov, fr. Aug-Sep of next year.

● Mixed forests, valleys. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan.