厚轴茶 hou zhou cha

Trees 5-15 m tall. Young branches yellowish brown, glabrous; current year branchlets green, sparsely gray pubescent or glabrous; terminal buds white sericeous. Petiole 5-10 mm, sparsely pubescent to subglabrous; leaf blade elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or oblong, (8-)10-13(-17) × (2-)4-6 cm, leathery, abaxially pale green and pubescent along midvein when young, adaxially dark green, shiny, and glabrous, midvein abaxially elevated and adaxially slightly raised, secondary veins 8-10 on each side of midvein, slender, and ± raised on both surfaces, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, margin serrate, apex acute to shortly caudate and with an obtuse tip. Flowers axillary, solitary or to 3 in a cluster, 4-5.5 cm in diam. Pedicel 5-10 mm, thickened toward apex, sparsely pubescent or glabrous; bracteoles 2, caducous. Sepals 5, persistent, ovate, 5-8 mm, outside gray puberulent or glabrous, inside white sericeous or glabrous. Petals 9-12, white; outer 4-6 petals sepaloid, ovate, ca. 1.5 cm; inner petals obovate, 2-2.5 cm, outside farinose-puberulent, basally connate. Stamens ca. 1.5 cm, glabrous; outer filament whorl basally connate for ca. 5 mm. Ovary white tomentose, (3-)5-loculed; style ca. 2 cm, densely white pubescent, apically (3-)5-parted for ca. 8 mm. Capsule globose, 5-6 cm in diam., (3 or)4- or 5-loculed with (1 or)2 seeds per locule; pericarp 5-8 mm thick. Seeds brown, hemispherical or globose, 2-2.5 cm in diam. Fl. Nov-Dec, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 30*.

● Evergreen broad-leaved forests; (1600-)1800-2500 m. W Guizhou, SE Yunnan.