金花茶 jin hua cha

Shrubs or trees, (1.5-)2-5 m tall. Young branches grayish brown; current year branchlets purplish brown, 2-3 mm thick, glabrous. Petiole 1-2 cm, glabrous; leaf blade elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or oblong, 9-18(-23) × 3-6(-7.5) cm, leathery, abaxially pale green, brown glandular punctate, and becoming pale brown when dry, adaxially dark green and shiny, both surfaces glabrous, midvein abaxially elevated and adaxially flat or slightly impressed, secondary veins 8-10 on each side of midvein, abaxially elevated, and adaxially impressed, base broadly cuneate to subrounded, margin serrulate, apex shortly caudate. Flowers axillary or subterminal, solitary or paired, (2-)5-6 cm in diam. Pedicel (5-)10-15 mm, erect, apically thickened; bracteoles (6-)8-10, spreading, not covering pedicel, lunate to broadly ovate, 2-3 × 3-5 mm, leathery, glabrous, margin ciliolate. Sepals 5, ovate to broadly ovate, (4-)6-8 × 6-9 mm, leathery, glabrous or inside white puberulent, margin ciliolate. Petals 10-14, golden yellow, fleshy; outer 4 or 5 petals broadly elliptic to suborbicular, 1.5-2 × 1-1.5 cm, margin ciliolate; inner petals elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 2-3.5 × 1.4-1.8 cm, basally connate for 6-8 mm. Stamens numerous, 2-2.5 cm, glabrous; outer filament whorl basally connate into a 7-10 mm tube. Ovary globose, ca. 2.5 mm in diam., glabrous, 3-loculed; styles 3, distinct, 1.5-2 cm. Capsule oblate, (1.2-)2.5-3.5 × (1.5-)4-6 cm, (2 or)3-loculed with 3 seeds per locule, apex sunken; pericarp 3-5 mm thick when dry, woody. Seeds brown, hemispherical, 1.5-2 cm in diam., sparsely yellowish brown pilose. Fl. Nov-Feb, fr. Sep-Nov. 2n = 30.

Forests in river valleys or along streams; 100-900 m. S Guangxi [N Vietnam].