紫檀 zi tan

Pterocarpus wallichii Wight & Arnott; P. zollingeri Mi­quel.

Trees, 15-25 m tall. Bark grayish. Leaves 15-30 cm; stip­ules early caducous; petiolules 4-7 mm; rachis and petiolule glabrous; leaflets 5-7(-11), ovate-elliptic, 5-11 × 3.5-5.5 cm, thinly papery, both surfaces glabrous, veins slender, lateral veins 6-8 pairs, base truncate, margin entire, apex shortly acuminate. Inflorescence a raceme or panicle, mostly axillary, rarely ter­minal, 10-18 cm, puberulent. Flowers 1-1.5 cm; bracteoles 2, linear-oblong, at base of calyx. Pedicel 7-10 mm, slender. Ca­lyx campanulate, 4-6 mm, appressed brown silky; teeth broadly triangular, ca. 1 mm, 2 larger than others. Corolla yellow; petals long clawed; standard ovate-orbicular to oblong, crisped at margin; wings oblong, ca. as long as standard; keel narrowly oblong, smaller than wings. Stamens 10, diadelphous (9+1), sheath 8-9 mm, vexillary filament free to base, filaments of varying heights; anthers versatile. Ovary shortly stipitate, ob­long, 7-8 mm, densely pubescent; ovules 2; style curved; stigma minute. Legume orbicular, 4-4.5 × 3.5-4.5 cm, shortly stalked, flat, slightly hairy and reticulate opposite seed, 1-seeded, broadly winged around margin, wing to 2 cm wide. Seed brownish, reniform, narrow and oblique. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Apr-May.

Open forests on slopes, cultivated in villages and gardens. Guang­dong, Taiwan, Yunnan [India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Pacific islands].