云南蓝果树 yun nan lan guo shu

Type: China. Yunnan: Jinghong Shi, Puwen, 27 Mar 1957 (fl.), Yunnan Expedition 9102 (holotype, KUN).

Validating Latin diagnosis: that of "Nyssa yunnanensis W. C. [sic] Yin" (C. Y. Wu & J. R. Fan in C. Y. Wu, Fl. Yunnan. 1: 292. 1977).

Trees dioecious, 25-30 m tall, ca. 1 m d.b.h. Bark dark brown, shallowly fissured, lenticels conspicuous. Branches densely yellowish tomentose. Petiole 2-3 cm, thick; leaf blade abaxially gray-green, adaxially dark green, elliptic or obovate, 15-22 × 8-12 cm, thickly leathery, abaxially densely tomentose, midvein and secondary veins 14-18 pairs, more densely tomentose, base obtuse or subrounded, margin entire to slightly sinuate; apex acute. Staminate flowers many, in axillary umbels; peduncle 2-2.5 cm, thick; pedicels ca. 3 mm, tomentose. Calyx lobes ovate-triangular, ca. 0.5 mm. Petals 5, oblong, ca. 2 × 1 mm. Stamens 2-3 mm; filaments linear. Female flowers not seen. Drupes 4 or 5 in head, purplish brown, ellipsoid, ca. 2 cm, ca. 1 mm in diam.; peduncles ca. 2 cm. Seeds slightly flattened, with 7 lengthwise grooves. Fl. Mar, fr. Sep.

● Dense forests in valleys; 500-1100 m. S Yunnan.

When Nyssa yunnanensis was originally described by Wu and Fan (loc. cit.), two gatherings were indicated as types, one flowering and one fruiting, with the result that the name was not validly published (see Art. 37.2 of the Vienna Code).

Nyssa yunnanensis was listed as endangered in China by Xu (in Fu & Jin, China Pl. Red Data Book 1: 477. 1992).

Also see SUN Bao-Ling & ZHANG Chang-Qin. 2007. A revised description of Nyssa yunnanensis (Nyssaceae). Acta Bot. Yunnan. 29(2): 173-175.