黄背越桔 huang bei yue ju

Shrubs or small trees, evergreen, 1–7 m tall. Twigs terete, brownish pubescent or tomentellate, rarely glandular setose, glabrescent; bud scales inconspicuous. Leaves scattered; petiole 2–5 mm, densely brownish pubescent or puberulous, rarely glandular setose; leaf blade ovate or ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 4–13 × 2–4 cm, leathery, abaxially pubescent on midvein, rarely glandular setose, adaxially puberulous on midvein, otherwise glabrous, rarely pubescent, secondary veins 6–9 pairs, ± ascending, fine veins raised abaxially, flat adaxially, base cuneate to rounded, margin plane, sparsely dentate or subentire, apex acuminate. Inflorescence racemose, 4–6 cm, densely pubescent or tomentellate, many flowered; bracts lanceolate, 3–7 mm, puberulous. Pedicel 2–4 mm, densely pubescent or tomentellate. Hypanthium ca. 1.2 mm, hairy; calyx lobes triangular, 1–1.5 mm. Corolla white or pinkish, tubular to urceolate, 5–7 mm, puberulous or not; lobes erect or reflexed, ca. 1 mm. Filaments 1.5–2 mm, densely pubescent; anthers ca. 3 mm, with 2 slender spurs; tubules ca. 3 × as long as thecae. Berry 10-pseudoloculed, globose, 4–5 mm in diam., ± pubescent. Fl. Apr–May, fr. after Jun.

Forests, montane thickets; 400–1400(–2400) m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang.

Lower Taxa

• Vaccinium iteophyllum var. glandulosum C. Y. Wu & R. C. Fang
• Vaccinium iteophyllum var. iteophyllum