毛瑞香 mao rui xiang

Daphne odora Thunberg var. atrocaulis Rehder in Sargent, Pl. Wilson. 2: 545. 1916; D. odora var. taiwaniana Masamune; D. taiwaniana (Masamune) Masamune.

Shrubs evergreen, 0.5-1.2(-2) m tall. Branches dark purplish red or brown, glabrous. Leaves alternate; petiole 6-8 mm; leaf blade adaxially dark green, elliptic or lanceolate, (5-)6-12 × (1.5-)1.8-3 cm, leathery, both surfaces glabrous, base decurrent into petiole, margin slightly revolute, apex acuminate; veins 6 or 7 pairs. Inflorescences terminal, subcapitate, usually 9-12-flowered; peduncle almost absent; bracts caducous, oblong-lanceolate, outer ca. 15 × 4 mm, glabrous, apex caudate or acuminate, ciliate. Pedicel 1-2 mm, densely tomentose. Calyx white (or creamy); tube cylindric, 10-14 mm, exterior densely sericeous; lobes 4, ovate-triangular or ovate-oblong, ca. 5 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Stamens 8, lower whorl inserted at middle of calyx tube, upper whorl in throat; filaments ca. 2 mm; anthers oblong, ca. 2.1 mm. Disk cup-shaped, margin entire or slightly undulate. Ovary obconic, ca. 2.2 mm, glabrous; style short; stigma capitate. Drupe broadly ellipsoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, ca. 10 mm. Fl. Nov-Feb, fr. Apr-May.

● Forests, moist places; 300-400 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang.

This species has been misidentified as Daphne odora (e.g., by Hemsley, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 26: 395. 1891). Daphne kiusiana var. kiusiana is found in Japan and S Korea. It has oblanceolate leaf blades and smaller flowers with calyx tubes 7-8 mm.