三桠乌药(原变种) san ya wu yao (yuan bian zhong)

Benzoin cercidifolium (Hemsley) Rehder; B. obtusilobum (Blume) Kuntze; Lindera cercidifolia Hemsley; L. mollis Oliver; L. obtusiloba var. praetermissa (Grierson & D. G. Long) H. P. Tsui; L. praetermissa Grierson & D. G. Long.

Leaf blade suborbicular or compressed-rounded, base broadly cuneate, subrounded, or cordate, margin usually trifid, sometimes pentafid, apex acute. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Aug-Sep.

Valleys, thickets in dense forests; near sea level to 3000 m. Anhui, Fujian, S Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Liaoning, S Shaanxi, E Shandong, Sichuan, Xizang, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].

Lindera obtusiloba and L. cercidifolia are different in leaf surface (pubescent vs. glabrous) and distributional range, but the present authors have observed several specimens from China, Japan, and Korea and have found that their floral morphological characters do not differ and that the leaf pubescence is more or less irregular.