Evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire, pinnately veined. Inflorescences usually paniculate, terminal, subterminal, or arising from near base of branchlet, with long peduncles or rarely without peduncles. Flowers bisexual, small or larger. Perianth tubes short; perianth lobes 6 in 2 series, equal, subequal, or occasionally outer ones conspicuously smaller than inner ones, usually persistent, rarely deciduous. Fertile stamens 9 in 3 series, anthers 4-celled, 1st and 2nd series of stamens eglandular, anthers introrse, 3rd series of stamens glandular, anthers extrorse or lateral, glands stipitate to sessile. Staminodes in 4th series, sagittate. Ovary sessile; stigmas small, dish-shaped or capitate. Fruit fleshy, globose, rarely ellipsoid or oblong, subtended at base by persistent and reflexed perianth lobes; fruiting pedicel not enlarged or slightly enlarged.

The following species were described from China but could not be treated here because no material was seen by the present authors:

Machilus hemsleyi Nakai (J. Jap. Bot. 16: 122. 1940; Persea hemsleyi (Nakai) Kostermans), described from Hubei.

Machilus tingzhourensis M. M. Lin et al. (Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 25: 5. 2005), described from Fujian.

Species incertae sedis

Machilus holadena H. Liu, Laurac. Chine & Indochine, 54. 1932 ["holadenus"].
全腺润楠 quan xian run nan

Trees. Branchlets purple-brown, slender, ± angular, subglabrous. Terminal bud small; bud scales 3-5 mm. Leaves subopposite; petiole 1-1.5 cm; leaf blade dull abaxially, shiny adaxially, elliptic, 10-11 × 3.5-4.5 cm, leathery, glabrous on both surfaces, midrib and lateral veins conspicuous on both surfaces, lateral veins ca. 10 pairs, veinlets anastomosing, somewhat visible abaxially, base cuneate, apex acuminate, acumen ca. 1 cm. Cymose panicles few flowered, inserted on short shoots in upper leaf axils or in axils of deciduous bracts; short shoots 2.5-5 mm; peduncles 1.5-4.5 cm. Pedicel 5-10 mm (terminal one longer), glabrous. Flowers yellow. Perianth tube long; lobes (6-)9 or 12, oblong, equal, 3.5-5 mm, glabrous abaxially, pilose adaxially, glandular. Stamens 9 or 12, 3-4 mm, all 2-glandular; glands at middle part of filament, stipitate, sublanceolate; filaments pilose; anthers subovoid, 2(or 4)-celled. Staminodes 3, somewhat pilose, apex deltoid. Pistil 4.5-5 mm, glabrous; ovary subovoid, almost covered by perianth tube, apex attenuate into a style 2.5-3 mm; stigma 3-lobed. Fruit unknown. Fl. May.

● Mountain slopes. Sichuan (Emei Shan), NE Yunnan.

Li Jie and Li Xiwen note that this species has subopposite leaves, a long perianth tube, (6-)9 or 12 perianth lobes, and mostly 2-celled (rarely 4-celled) anthers. They consider that it may perhaps be a species of Beilschmiedia, but they have not yet seen its fruit and therefore include it here as a species incertae sedis.

About 100 species: tropical and subtropical S and SE Asia; 82 species (63 endemic) in China; one additional species (endemic) is of uncertain placement.

(Authors: Wei Fa’nan (韦发南); Henk van der Werff)