钟花胡颓子 zhong hua hu tui zi

Shrubs, evergreen, divaricate or climbing, 2-4 m tall. Spines absent; young branches densely ferruginous- or brown scaly. Petiole 9-14 mm; leaf blade abaxially ferruginous when young, gray-green and glossy when mature, adaxially drying dull green, elliptic to broadly elliptic, 8-14 × 3-7 cm, membranous, thinly papery, or leathery, abaxially scales ± contiguous at maturity, mostly with brown centers, margin subentire, adaxially with brown scales when young, glabrous when mature, lateral veins 6-8 per side of midrib, raised on both surfaces, conspicuous abaxially, slender adaxially, base rounded or subrounded, margin revolute, apex acuminate to acute. Flowers nodding, 1-9 in axils of mature leaves. Pedicel 3-5 mm, slender, to 1.8 cm in fruit. Flowers light white, outside silvery scaly. Calyx tube broadly campanulate, 6-7 mm, abruptly constricted above ovary; lobes ovate-triangular, 3-6 mm, inside densely stellate-hairy to stellate-tomentose with sparse brown scales. Filaments 2-2.5 mm, expanded at base; anthers ca. 1.5 mm. Style erect, glabrous. Drupe ellipsoid, ca. 1.5 × 0.5 cm, rust-colored scaly. Fl. Nov-Feb, fr. Apr-May.

Dense forests, open woodlands; 200-2800 m. Guangxi, ?Sichuan, Yunnan [Bangladesh].

The record from Sichuan is possibly based on a misidentification and cannot be placed to variety.