台灣假黃楊
Putranjiva formosana Kaneh. & Sasaki ex Shimada
Euphorbiaceae 大戟科
Status in China Endangered (EN)

Description:

Small trees; branchlets sulcate, glabrescent. Leaves thin leathery, elliptic to oblong-ovate, 5-8 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, apex acuminate, base obliquely acute, margin entire to crenulate-serrulate, glabrous; petioles 7 mm long. Racemes axillary, 6-8 mm long, velutinous, bracteate. Male flower: sepals 4-6, imbricate; stamens 2, without petal, disc and staminodes. Female flower: sepals 5, narrowly elliptic, imbricate; ovary ellipsoid-ovoid,2-locular. Drupe ellipsoid, 10-13 mm long, 7-8 mm in diam., appressed-white-pubescent, 1-locular, 1-seeded.

Distribution:

Lamma Island, Po Toi Islands (Sung Kong), Ninepin Group (Kwo Chau Islands), Ching Chau. Guangdong and Taiwan.

Habitat and Ecology:

In thickets and forests.

The species has a discontinuous distribution pattern ranging from Taiwan to Hong Kong and Guangdong, and is thus of great botanical interests. As its distribution range is narrow and natural population size are small, ex-situ conservation measures could be explored.

References:

李秉滔,1994:中國植物誌44(1): 42. 科學出版社,北京。