亮叶木莲 liang ye mu lian

Magnolia lucida (B. L. Chen & S. C. Yang) V. S. Kumar.

Trees, to 18 m tall, to 65 cm d.b.h. Young twigs grayish, 8-10 mm in diam., smooth, often longitudinally wrinkled when dry, glabrous or with minute trichomes. Stipules pubescent, scar 1.6-4.5 cm. Petiole 3.6-6 cm, often thickened toward base, glabrous; leaf blade obovate, 27-44 × 11-16 cm, leathery, midvein abaxially rather elevated lengthwise, adaxially sulcate, secondary veins 13-19 on each side of midvein, apically curved, and meeting in an intramarginal vein, reticulate veins coarse and adaxially rather dull, base cuneate and decurrent with 2 ridges into petiole, apex acuminate, acumen 1-2.5 cm. Brachyblasts ca. 1.4 × 0.6 cm, pubescent; spathaceous bract 1, ± at base of peduncle, broadly obovate, ca. 8.3 × 6.9 cm, thickly leathery, abaxially pubescent. Peduncle 5-6 mm, with same indumentum as brachyblast. Tepals 9(-11), purple; outer 3 tepals narrowly obovate, 12-14 × 5.8-6 cm, fleshy; inner 6-8 tepals in 2 whorls, shorter and narrower than outer ones. Stamens many. Gynoecium ovoid, ca. 2.7 × 1.8 cm; carpels 70-80, nearly entirely connate when young, glabrous. Fruiting brachyblasts ca. 4.5 × 1 cm; pedicel ca. 2.5 × 1 cm. Fruit ovoid-globose, ca. 9.5 × 8-10 cm; torus ca. 3 × 2 cm, with scars of perianth and stamens; mature carpels 2-3.5 × 0.8-1 cm, woody, abaxial part 1-1.5 cm, dehiscing along dorsal suture at first and later also along ventral suture. Seeds ca. 3 per carpel. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Sep-Oct.

● Secondary evergreen broad-leaved forests; 500-700 m. SE Yunnan.