东南山茶 dong nan shan cha

Thea edithae (Hance) Kuntze.

Shrubs or trees, 2-7 m tall. Young branches grayish brown, glabrous; current year branchlets densely yellow spreading villous, indumentum ± persistent. Petiole 2-5 mm, thick, spreading villous; leaf blade ovate, long ovate, or lanceolate, 6-12.5(-15.5) × 2.5-4.5 cm, leathery, abaxially pale green and appressed villous but spreading villous along midvein, adaxially dark green, shiny, yellow spreading villous along midvein, and becoming yellowish brown when dry, midvein abaxially raised and adaxially impressed, secondary veins 7-9 on each side of midvein, abaxially raised, and adaxially impressed, base rounded to cordate, margin serrulate, apex acuminate to long acuminate. Flowers subterminal, solitary, 5-6 cm in diam., subsessile. Bracteoles and sepals 9-11; outer 2 or 3 bracteoles and sepals suborbicular, 4-6 mm, apex acute; inner bracteoles and sepals ovate, 1.5-2.5 cm, crustaceous, outside grayish yellow villous, inside white velutinous, margin scarious and ciliolate, apex acuminate. Petals 5 or 6, red, obovate, 2.5-4 × 2-3 cm, basally connate for ca. 1.5 cm, apex emarginate. Stamens 2.5-3 cm, glabrous; outer filament whorl basally connate for 1.5-2 cm. Ovary tomentose, 3-loculed; style ca. 2.5 cm, glabrous, apically 3-lobed. Capsule brown, oblate to subglobose, 1.5-2 cm in diam., 3-loculed with 1 or 2 seeds per locule; pericarp 1-2 mm thick when dry. Seeds brown, globose to semiglobose, 1-1.5 cm in diam. Fl. Jan-Mar, fr. Oct. 2n = 30*.

● Forests; 200-1000 m. Fujian, NE Guangdong, SE Jiangxi.