蕈树 tan shu

Liquidambar chinensis Champion, Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 4: 164. 1852.

Trees ca. 20 m tall, trunk to ca. 60 cm in diam.; bark gray, subscabrous; young branches glabrous; buds ovoid, pubescent. Stipules caducous; petiole ca. 1 cm, glabrous; leaf blade obovate-oblong, 7–13 × 3–4.5 cm, leathery, abaxially glabrous, base cuneate, margin crenate-serrate, apex acute; lateral veins ca. 7 on each side, prominent on both surfaces. Male inflorescences cylindrical, ca. 1 cm, usually many arranged in panicle; peduncle pubescent. Female inflorescence solitary or many in panicles, 15–26-flowered; peduncle 2–4 cm; bracts 4 or 5, ovate or lanceolate, 1–1.5 cm. Male flowers: stamens subsessile; anthers obovoid. Female flowers: staminode teeth pointed; styles 3–4 mm, pubescent, apex recurved. Infructescences subglobose, 1.7–2.8 cm wide, base truncate. Seeds brown, shiny. Fl. Mar–Jun, fr. Jul–Sep.

Forests; 600--1000 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, SE Yunnan, Zhejiang [Vietnam].

The essential oils of the wood are used in medicine or perfume, and the wood itself is used for making furniture.