野香橼花 ye xiang yuan hua

Capparis acutifolia Sweet subsp. bodinieri (H. Léveillé) Jacobs; C. subtenera Craib & W. W. Smith.

Shrubs or small trees, (1.2-)5-8 m tall, 5-20(-30) cm d.b.h. Twigs with dense reddish brown to gray extremely thin irregular stellate trichomes, glabrescent but leaf axils with some residual trichomes. Stipular spines to 5 mm, recurved. Petiole 5-7 mm; leaf blade ovate to lanceolate, 4-13(-18) × 2-4.5(-6.5) cm, membranous and with trichomes when young but leathery and glabrescent when mature, midvein broad, abaxially raised, and adaxially slightly raised to slightly impressed, secondary veins (5-)7 or 8(-10) on each side of midvein, reticulate veins not obvious in young leaves, base rounded to cuneate but not decurrent on petiole, apex shortly acuminate, acuminate, or acute. Inflorescences superaxillary rows, (1 or)2-6(or 7)-flowered. Pedicel 1-1.2 cm, trichomes like those on branches. Sepals 5-7 mm, outside glabrescent, inside tomentose; sepals of inner whorl navicular, inwardly concave to shallowly saccate, saccate area turning red. Petals white, narrowly obovate with anterior 2 slightly longer and narrower, 1-1.1 cm, both surfaces tomentose but somewhat less so on outer surface. Stamens (18-)20-37; filaments 2-2.5 cm; anthers 1-1.7 mm. Gynophore 2-2.5(-2.9) cm; ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm; placentae 2. Fruit black, globose, 1.2-1.4 cm in diam.; stipe 0.5-1 mm thick. Seeds 1 to several per fruit, 5-6 mm in diam. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Aug-Oct.

Among shrubs, secondary forests, limestone areas, roadsides; 700-1700(-2300) m. Guangxi, E Guizhou, SW Sichuan (Huili), Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, N Myanmar].