屏边山柑 ping bian shan gan

Capparis trichopoda B. S. Sun.

Shrubs, scandent, 4-15 m tall. Twigs tan, nearly terete, densely yellowish gray then tan-colored tomentose, gradually glabrescent, usually with stipular spines but sometimes spines not obvious or absent; new twigs yellowish gray, flat, with hollow sulcus and raised ridge. Stipular spines to 3 mm, recurved, hooked, with trichomes, base conic. Petiole 1.2-1.8 cm, with dense trichomes, adaxially with a narrow groove; leaf blade elliptic, 5-11 × 2-4.5 cm, nearly leathery, both surfaces glabrous or when young abaxial midvein sparsely shortly pubescent, midvein abaxially raised and adaxially impressed to thinly grooved, secondary veins 5-9 on each side of midvein but not obvious on both surfaces or abaxially sometimes visible, reticulate veins not obvious, base rounded, apex obtuse to acute and often shortly mucronate. Inflorescences at apex of lateral branches or axillary and terminal on flowering twigs, panicles of corymbs or short racemes, with few leaves, 6-10-flowered; peduncle 2-4 cm, trichomes like those on new twigs. Sepals ca. 8 mm; sepals of outer whorl inwardly concave to navicular, outside shortly pubescent, inside glabrous; sepals of inner whorl obovate, nearly flat, outside shortly tomentose at middle, inside glabrous. Petals white, obovate-oblong, 9-12 × 3-4 mm, roughly equal, outside glabrous, inside shortly tomentose from base to middle. Stamens 20-28; filaments 2-2.5 cm; anthers 2-2.5 mm. Gynophore 2.5-3 cm, glabrous; ovary ellipsoid, glabrous; placentae 3 or 4; ovules many. Fruit globose, 3-4 cm in diam., scabrous; pericarp ca. 3 mm thick; sarcocarp pink, with an odor. Seeds ca. 20 per fruit, ca. 1.5 × 1 cm. Fl. May, fr. unknown for China.

Wet areas, scattered forests; 1300-1400 m. SE Yunnan (Dawei Shan, Pingbian) [Laos, Vietnam].