三花越桔 san hua yue ju

Pieris buxifolia H. Léveillé & Vaniot, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 53: 203. 1906; Vaccinium buxifolium (H. Léveillé & Vaniot) H. Léveillé (1913), not Gilibert (1782), nor Salisbury (1805-1806), nor J. D. Hooker (1852).

Shrubs evergreen, 0.6–1 m tall. Twigs terete, pubescent, glabrescent; bud scales inconspicuous. Leaves dense; petiole 1–2 mm, pubescent; leaf blade elliptic, 1.4–2.3 × 0.7–1.4 cm, leathery, abaxially glabrous or pilose on midvein, adaxially glabrous, drying convex and rugose, secondary veins 1 pair, fine veins inconspicuous, base cuneate to broadly cuneate or sometimes rounded, margin revolute, entire, with 1(or 2) small basal glands per side, apex rounded, often retuse. Inflorescences from older axils, racemose, 3–4 mm, pubescent, with persistent bud scales, (1- or)2- or 3(–5)-flowered; bracts caducous, ca. 1.5 mm. Pedicel 6–9 mm, pilose. Hypanthium ca. 1 mm, pubescent or glabrous; calyx lobes triangular-lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm. Corolla dark red, campanulate, ca. 5 mm, 5-veined, puberulous on veins; lobes ca. 2 mm. Filaments 1–1.5 mm, pilose; anthers ca. 4.5 mm, with 2 short erect spurs; tubules ca. 2 × as long as thecae. Berry 10-pseudoloculed (from flower). Fl. Apr–Jun.

Forests on calcareous mountains; 1700–1800 m. S Guizhou, SE Yunnan [N Vietnam].