滇白珠 dian bai zhu

Vaccinium yunnanense Franchet, J. Bot. (Morot) 9: 368. 1895; Embelia vaniotii H. Léveillé; Gaultheria laxiflora Diels; G. leucocarpa var. pingbienensis C. Y. Wu ex T. Z. Hsu; G. yunnanensis (Franchet) Rehder; Pieris fortunatii H. Léveillé; P. vaccinium H. Léveillé; Vaccinium yunnanense var. franchetianum H. Léveillé.

Twigs and leaves glabrous. Filaments with varied hairs. Ovary sericeous.

Pinus and secondary forests, thickets on open slopes; 500–3000 (–3300) m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam].

This variety is widely used medicinally in Guizhou and Yunnan, as “tou gu cao,” for its rich content of salicylic acid. In the past, some specimens of this variety have been misidentified as var. cumingiana from the Philippines.