灰叶花楸 hui ye hua qiu

Aria pallescens (Rehder) H. Ohashi & H. Iketani; Sorbus ochrocarpa Rehder.

Trees to 7 m tall. Branchlets reddish brown or purplish brown when young, dark grayish brown when old, terete, sparsely pubescent when young, glabrous when old, with few scattered prominent lenticels; buds ovoid or narrowly ovoid, 6–9 mm, apex acute to shortly acuminate; scales several, dark reddish brown, glabrous. Leaves simple; petiole 5–12 mm, sparsely tomentulose or subglabrous; leaf blade elliptic, elliptic-obovate, or ovate, 5–10 × 2–5 cm, lateral veins 10–14 pairs, nearly parallel and terminating in marginal teeth, slightly raised abaxially and impressed adaxially, both surfaces tomentose when young, abaxially persistently tomentose intermixed with soft hairs along midvein and lateral veins, adaxially glabrate, base cuneate to rounded, margin irregularly doubly serrate, apex acute to shortly acuminate. Compound corymbs terminal, 1.5–3.5 × 4–4.5 cm, 10–20(–25)-flowered; rachis and pedicels yellowish white tomentose, glabrate. Pedicel 3–4 mm. Flowers 0.9–1.2 cm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, abaxially densely yellowish white tomentose. Sepals triangular, 1.5–2 mm, apex acute. Petals white, ovate or triangular-ovate, rarely obovate, ca. 4 × 3 mm, adaxially yellowish white tomentose, apex obtuse or emarginate. Stamens 20, shorter than or nearly as long as petals. Styles 2–4(or 5), shorter than or nearly as long as stamens, basally connate and yellowish white tomentose. Fruit white, stained red, subglobose, 6–8(–10) mm in diam., sparsely gray tomentose at base and apex when young, with or without few small lenticels, 2–4(or 5)-loculed, hypanthium persistent; seeds brown, obovoid, 3–4 mm, compressed. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Aug–Sep.

Mixed forests on slopes, forest margins, thickets, stream sides; 2000--3300 m. W Sichuan, S Xizang, NW Yunnan.