陷脉鼠李 xian mai shu li

Rhamnus bodinieri f. silvicola C. K. Schneider.

Shrubs evergreen, dioecious, ca. 3 m tall, unarmed. Annual branches puberulent. Stipules needle-shaped, caducous; petiole 3-9(-12) mm, puberulent; leaf blade abaxially pale yellow-green, adaxially dark green, elliptic or oblong, 2.5-10 × 1.2-3.5 cm, leathery, abaxially glabrous, or clustered hairy in vein axils, adaxially sparsely pubescent on midvein, lateral veins 5 or 6 pairs, distinctly prominent abaxially, impressed adaxially, base cuneate or subrounded, margin distinctly revolute, sparsely acutely hooked-serrate, apex acute, rarely obtuse or rounded, midvein often elongated into mucro. Flowers unisexual, 5-merous, broadly campanulate, sparsely puberulent, solitary or 2- or 3(-7)-clustered in axils of small leaflike bracts; bracts narrowly elliptic, to 2 cm. Sepals 2-2.5 mm, adaxially with conspicuous midvein, apex acute. Petals absent. Pedicels 3-6 mm, sparsely puberulent. Male flowers with rudimentary pistil; ovary abortive; style short, 3-fid or 3-cleft to half. Female flowers small, with rudimentary stamens; ovary globose, 3-loculed; style longer and stout, deeply 3-cleft; disk disk-shaped, thin. Drupe purple-red, blackish at maturity, globose or obovoid, ca. 5 mm, ca. 4 mm in diam., with persistent calyx tube at base, with 3 stones; fruiting pedicel 4-10 mm. Seeds abaxially with margined furrow extending over 4/5 of length. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Oct.

● Dense mountain forests, thickets; 1000-2000 m. NW Guangxi, W Guizhou, S and SE Yunnan [?Nepal].

This species differs from Rhamnus xizangensis in having leathery leaves, with margins revolute when dry, acutely hooked-serrate, and lateral veins 5 or 6 pairs, adaxially conspicuously impressed.