台湾连蕊茶 tai wan lian rui cha

Shrubs or rarely trees, 2-3(-6) m tall. Young branches grayish brown, spreading villous and pubescent or puberulent, indumentum persisting 2-3 years. Petiole 1-3 mm, pubescent; leaf blade oblong-elliptic, oblong, or lanceolate, 2-4.5 × (0.6-)1-1.8 cm, thinly leathery, abaxially pale green and pilose along midvein or glabrescent, adaxially bright green and hirtellous along midvein, midvein raised on both surfaces, secondary veins 6-8 on each side of midvein and slightly raised on both surfaces, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, margin serrulate, apex bluntly acute to acuminate. Flowers solitary, fragrant. Pedicel 1-2.5 mm; bracteoles 4-8, covering pedicel, broadly ovate to semiorbicular, 0.5-2 mm, glabrous, margin ciliolate. Sepals 5, nearly distinct, ovate, broadly ovate, or lanceolate, (1-)2.5-3 mm, glabrous, margin ciliolate, apex rounded. Petals 5 or 6, white, obovate to broadly obovate, (0.6-)1-1.5 × (0.4-)0.9-1.2 cm, basally connate for 2-4 mm, apex emarginate. Stamens (0.5-)1-1.2 cm, glabrous; outer filament whorl basally connate for (2-)5-6 mm into a tube. Gynoecium 6-13 mm, glabrous. Ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm in diam., 3-loculed; style (0.5-)1-1.2 cm, apically 3-parted for ca. 1.5 mm. Capsule subglobose, ca. 1 cm in diam., l-loculed with 1 seed; pericarp thin, splitting into 3 valves. Seed dark brown, globose, ca. 7 mm in diam. Fl. Jan-Mar, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 30, 90.

Forests, thickets; (below 100-)400-1400(-2400) m. S Guangxi, Hong Kong, Taiwan [Japan (Ryukyu Islands)].