Bretschneidera sinensis Hemsl.

Since Bretschneidera was found only recently in Taiwan and Thailand, it seems possible that the genus might also be found in Laos and N Myanmar. The trees are most conspicuous, and should be sought in the early spring when the showy flowers are open.

Trees 10-20 m tall; bark gray-brown. Leaves 25-75 cm, sparsely hairy in leaf axils or glabrous; petiole 10-25 cm; petiolules 2-10 mm; leaflets 7-15, green adaxially, green to glaucous abaxially, narrowly elliptic, rhombic-oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, slightly oblique, 6-26 × 3-9 cm, papery or leathery, glabrous adaxially, minutely pubescent abaxially, base obtuse to rounded to cuneate, margin entire, apex acuminate to acute; lateral veins in 8-15 pairs. Inflorescence 20-36 cm. Flowers 3-5 cm in diam., pedicel 2-4 cm. Calyx 1.5-2.3 × 1.2-2.7 cm, 5-lobed. Petals white to pink, becoming darker with age, red striate, broadly spatulate to obovate-cuneate, 1.8-2 × 1-1.5 cm, base rounded, apex notched; upper petal hoodlike, covering stamens and style. Filaments 2.5-3 cm, hairy at base, curving downward apically. Ovary and style hairy; style 3-4 cm, bent abruptly downward apically. Capsule ellipsoid-globose to subglobose to ovoid or obovoid, 3-5.5 × 2-3.5 cm, warty, minutely hairy; valves 1.2-5 mm thick; fruiting pedicel 2.5-3.5 cm. Seeds red, ellipsoid-globose, compressed, 1.5-2.5 × 1.2-1.8 cm, smooth. Fl. Mar-Sep, fr. Aug-Apr. 2n = 18*.

Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [N Thailand, N Vietnam].

Forests; 300-1700 m.

Bretschneidera yunshanensis Chun & F. C. How.