抱石越桔 bao shi yue ju

Vaccinium nummularia var. oblongifolium C. Y. Wu & R. C. Fang.

Shrubs evergreen, sometimes epiphytic, 0.5–0.7 m tall, much and diffusely branched. Twigs rounded, pubescent and densely brownish glandular setulose, glabrescent, scabrous; bud scales inconspicuous. Leaves dense; petiole ca. 1 mm, pubescent; leaf blade ovate, ovate-orbicular, or oblong, 1–2.3 × 0.7–1.2 cm, leathery or thinly so, adaxially puberulous on midvein, otherwise glabrous on both surfaces, secondary veins 3 or 4 pairs, veins and fine veins inconspicuous and raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, base rounded, margin revolute, cartilaginous, with 1 or 2 basal glands per side, sparsely denticulate. Inflorescences pseudoterminal, racemose, densely pubescent, 0.6–1.5 cm; bracts caducous, broadly ovate, ca. 4 mm. Pedicel 6–7 mm, glabrous. Hypanthium ca. 0.7 mm, glabrous; calyx lobes broadly triangular or undulate, ca. 0.8 mm, ciliate. Corolla white, pinkish above, urceolate, 5–6 mm; lobes erect or reflexed, 0.5–0.8 mm. Filaments 1.5–2 mm, densely pilose; anthers ca. 2.5 mm, thecae with 2 spreading spurs; tubules ca. as long as thecae. Berry 10-pseudoloculed, dark purple. Fl. May, fr. Jul–Aug.

Rocky places in montane forests, sometimes epiphytic, thickets on mountain slopes; 2000–3500 m. SE Xizang, NW Yunnan (Gongshan) [Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim].