川滇鼠李 chuan dian shu li

Shrubs 1-2 m tall, much spinescent. Branchlets spreading, opposite, subopposite, or alternate, black-brown, gray when young, puberulent, terminating in a spine; old branches gray-brown or brown, glabrous, irregularly fissured. Leaves opposite or subopposite, rarely alternate, or fascicled at short shoots; stipules linear-subulate, shorter than petioles, caducous; petiole 1-3 mm, puberulent; leaf blade abaxially pale green, turning black when dry, adaxially dark green, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, rarely lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong, 1.5-3 cm × 5-10 mm, papery to thickly papery, abaxially clustered hairy in vein axils or subglabrous, lateral veins 3 or 4 pairs, nearly inconspicuous, base cuneate, margin often revolute, inconspicuously crenulate or subentire, apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes emarginate, rarely slightly acute. Flowers yellow-green, turning black when dry, unisexual, 4-merous, usually 3-5-fascicled in leaf axils of short shoots. Male flowers campanulate, 3.5-4 mm, sparsely puberulent; sepals ovate-triangular, 2-2.5 mm, apex acuminate; petals oblong-lanceolate, small, ca. 1 mm; stamens nearly equaling petals; rudimentary ovary minute; style 2-fid; pedicels 1-3 mm, puberulent. Drupe brown, subglobose, 4-5 mm in diam., with shallow, cup-shaped, persistent calyx tube at base, with 2 or 3 stones; fruiting pedicel 2-3 mm, glabrous. Seeds pale brown, elliptic, 4-4.5 mm, abaxially with a margined furrow extending over 4/5 of length. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Aug.

● Understories of mixed forests and thickets; 2200-2700 m. SW Sichuan, NW Yunnan.

This species is very similar to Rhamnus leptacantha, but the latter differs in having branchlets glabrous and leaves subleathery, spatulate, and glabrous on both surfaces.