柠檬金花茶 ning meng jin hua cha

Shrubs 1-4 m tall. Young branches yellowish brown; current year branchlets purplish brown, slender, glabrous. Petiole 5-8 mm, glabrous, adaxially grooved; leaf blade elliptic, obovate-elliptic, or oblong-ovate, 6-10.5 × (2.5-)3-4.5 cm, thinly leathery, abaxially pale green, brown glandular punctate, and becoming glaucescent when dry, adaxially dark green and becoming grayish green when dry, both surfaces glabrous, midvein abaxially elevated and adaxially impressed, secondary veins 6 or 7 on each side of midvein, abaxially raised, and adaxially slightly impressed, reticulate veins abaxially slightly raised and adaxially visible, base broadly cuneate, margin serrulate, apex acute to acuminate. Flowers axillary, solitary, 1-3.5 cm in diam. Pedicel 3-13 mm, slender; bracteoles 5 or 6, not covering pedicel, semiorbicular to broadly ovate, 0.5-1.5 × 1-2.5 mm, glabrous or outside farinose-puberulent, margin ciliolate. Sepals 5, orbicular, 2-3 mm, concave, glabrous or outside farinose-puberulent, margin ciliolate. Petals 8 or 9, pale yellow to yellowish white; outer 3 or 4 petals suborbicular, 5-7 × 4-6 mm; inner petals obovate to oblong, 8-15 × 5-6 mm, basally connate for ca. 2 mm. Stamens 8-10 mm, glabrous; outer filament whorl basally connate for 3-4 mm. Ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm in diam., glabrous; styles 3, distinct, ca. 1 cm. Capsule oblate, (2 or)3-coccal, 1-1.5 × 1.5-2.5 cm; pericarp 1-1.5 mm thick. Seeds hemispherical, brown, glabrous. Fl. Dec-Jan, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 30.

Forests on calcareous hills, in valleys, or along streams; (near sea level to)100-400 m. S Guangxi [N Vietnam].