异齿冬青 yi chi dong qing

Ilex latifolia Thunberg var. subrugosa (Loesener) Hu & T. Tang.

Trees evergreen, ca. 10 m tall. Branchlets terete, longitudinally striate and sulcate, densely yellow-brown pubescent, lenticels absent, leaf scars semicircular, raised; terminal buds narrowly conical, apically acuminate, bud scales densely pubescent. Petiole 4-10 mm, abaxially subrounded and rugose, adaxially narrowly and deeply sulcate, pubescent; leaf blade abaxially greenish, adaxially deep green, slightly shiny, oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, 4-10 × 1.5-2.5(-3) cm, leathery, abaxially glabrous, adaxially glabrous except on midvein, midvein impressed and pubescent adaxially, lateral veins 5-8 pairs, slightly raised abaxially, flattened or slightly impressed adaxially, reticulate veins obscure adaxially, base cuneate or obtuse, margin sparsely crenulate or coarsely sharply serrate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences: cymes, fasciculate or pseudoracemose, axillary on second year’s branchlets; rachis puberulent or glabrous; bracts ovate, 2-3 mm, puberulent; flowers yellowish, fragrant. Male inflorescences: cymes of order 1(or 2), 1(-3)-flowered, fasciculate; pedicels 2-3 mm, pubescent; bracteoles 2, median, ca. 2 mm; calyx patelliform, ca. 2 mm in diam., puberulent, 4-lobed, lobes suborbicular, ciliate; corolla 6-7 mm in diam., petals 4, oblong, ca. 3 × 2 mm, basally slightly connate; stamens ca. as long as petals; rudimentary ovary ovoid, apex obtuse, obscurely lobed. Female inflorescences: 1-flowered cymes, pseudoracemose, puberulent; rachis 3-5 mm; pedicels 4-6 mm, puberulent; bracteoles 2, basal, lanceolate, puberulent; calyx patelliform, 4-lobed, lobes deltoid, ciliate; petals free, obovate, ca. 3 × 1.75 mm, not ciliate; staminodes ca. 2/3 as long as petals, sterile anthers sagittate; ovary ovoid, ca. 2 mm, style evident, stigma thickly discoid or capitate. Fruit red, subglobose-ellipsoid, 5-6 mm, 4-5 mm in diam., tuberculate; persistent calyx explanate, subquadrangular, lobes ciliate; persistent stigma thickly discoid, 4-lobed; pyrenes 4, obovoid, ca. 3.5 mm, ca. 2 mm in diam., pointed at smaller end, abaxially palmately longitudinally striate and sulcate, laterally longitudinally striate and shallowly sulcate, endocarp woody. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Sep-Oct.

● Forests along stream banks, hills; 1200-2300 m. W Sichuan, Xizang, NW Yunnan (Weixi).