Lyonia ovalifolia (Wall.) Drude

The leaf blade shape and indumentum are highly variable.

Shrubs or trees, deciduous or evergreen, 1–4 m tall. Twigs glabrous or pubescent. Buds narrowly ovoid, (1–)3–9(–11.5) mm, glabrous. Petiole 4–9 mm, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blade ovate, narrowly to broadly elliptic, lanceolate, or suborbicular, 3–20 × 2–12 cm, papery to thinly leathery, both surfaces ± with white or brown hairs, rarely abaxially densely white villous on midvein or subglabrous, veins prominently raised to slightly depressed or nearly obscure, base obtuse, cuneate, or sometimes cordate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences 5–20 cm, pubescent; lower 1–3(or 4) bracts leaflike or not. Pedicel 2–10 mm, densely pubescent. Calyx lobes oblong or triangular, 2–6 mm, densely or sometimes sparsely pubescent. Corolla tubular, 8–11 mm, abaxially densely pubescent; lobes ca. 1 mm. Filaments 5–8 mm, pilose, with 2 spurs at apex. Ovary glabrous or pubescent. Capsule globose or ovoid, 3–5 mm in diam., with thick sutures or not, glabrous to densely pubescent. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Sep. 2n = 24*.

Deciduous trees; bark brown, fibrous, splitting in long narrow strips.. Leaves 2-10 cm long, 1-5 cm broad, oval to ovate, apex acute to acuminate.. Flowers 8-11 mm long, in dense axillary or terminal racemes or solitary. Bracts lanceolate, c.3 mm long. Calyx lobes 5, ovate, 2.5-3 mm long. Corolla 1-1.5 cm long, urceolate, pubescent outside, lobes small, broadly ovate. Stamens 10, filaments thread-like, ciliate, broad at the bases, anthers with two weak appendages at the base. Style twice as long as the ovary. Capsule 4-5 mm long, globose, ridges corky. Seeds minute, thread-like.

Himalaya (Punjab to Bhutan), Tibet, Assam, Burma, east to China, Malay Pen.

Anhui, Fujian, S Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim, Thailand, Vietnam].

Distribution: Common in the Himalayas in temperate climates from 1000-2500 m; Burma and Japan.

1300-3300 m

Forests, forest margins, thickets, mountains, open and dry slopes, near hot springs, ravines; 200–3400 m.

Described from the Himalayas.