红花荷 hong hua he

Rhodoleia latiovatifolia G. A. Fu.

Trees, to 12 m tall; young branches stout, drying dark brown, glabrous. Petiole 3–5.5 cm; leaf blade ovate to broadly ovate, 7–16 × 4.5–10.5 cm, firmly leathery, drying discolorous, abaxially whitish gray, usually glabrous or sometimes with remains of brown stellate scales or stellate indumentum that appears tuberculate on drying, base broadly cuneate, apex obtuse or subacute; obscurely 3-veined at base, lateral veins 7–9 on each side at ca. 60° to midrib, conspicuous on both surfaces, reticulate veins obscure. Inflorescences 3–4 cm, 2.5–3.5 cm wide in fruit; peduncle 2–3.8 cm, with several scalelike bracts; involucral bracts many, ovate-rounded, brown pubescent; bracteoles 5 or 6, scalelike. Petals spatulate, 25–35(–40) × 4–8 mm. Stamens as long as petals, filaments glabrous, 1.5–2 cm, anthers 4–6 mm. Ovary glabrous; styles somewhat shorter than stamens. Capsules 5, ovoid-globose, ca. 1.2–1.5 cm, styles not persistent, pericarp thin-woody. Seeds yellow-brown, flattened. Fl. Feb–Apr, fr. May–Aug.

Forests; ca. 1000 m. C and W Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan [Indonesia (Sumatra), W Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam].

Records of Rhodoleia championii from outside China must be treated with caution; collectors have commented on the similarity of the foliage to that of Rhododendron.