台湾白树 tai wan bai shu

Gelonium aequoreum Hance, J. Bot. 4: 173. 1866; Owataria formosana Matsumura.

Shrubs ca. 3 m tall; branchlets greenish, subangular, glabrous. Petiole 0.5-2 mm; leaf blade elliptic to obovate-oblong, 3.5-9 × 2-3.5 cm, papery, glabrous, base cuneate to broadly so, margin entire, slightly revolute, apex rounded, rarely obtuse; lateral veins 5-7. Inflorescences sessile glomerules, slightly hairy; flowers white, ca. 5-6 mm in diam. Male flowers: sepals 5, orbicular; stamens 20-30, free; disk annular. Female flowers: sepals 5 or 6, narrower than in male; disk cupular or annular; ovary 3-locular; styles 3; stigmas bifid, revolute. Capsules globose, 6-8 mm, slightly fleshy, glabrous, often 1-seeded. Seed surface often foveolate. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Sep.

Coastal thickets; below 100 m. S Taiwan [Philippines].

The name Suregada glomerulata (Blume) Baillon has long been used incorrectly for the following species. Closely related to S. aequorea, true S. glomerulata is found from Thailand to Australia but not in China.