Sell Myrica Rubra

Morella rubra Loureiro; Myrica rubra var. acuminata Nakai.

Trees evergreen, dioecious, to 15 m tall; trunk to 60 cm d.b.h.; bark gray. Branchlets and buds glabrous. Petiole 2-10 mm, glabrous to puberulent adaxially; leaf blade cuneate-obovate or narrowly elliptic-obovate, 5-14 × 1-4 cm, leathery, glabrous, abaxially pale green and sparsely to moderately golden glandular, adaxially dark green, base cuneate, margin entire or serrate in apical 1/2, apex obtuse to acute. Male spikes simple or inconspicuously branched, solitary or sometimes few together in leaf axils, 1-3 cm; peduncle glabrous; bracts suborbicular, ca. 1 mm, glabrous but abaxially golden glandular. Male flowers with 2-4 ovate bracteoles, sparsely ciliate. Stamens 4-6; anthers dark red, ellipsoid. Female spikes solitary in leaf axils, 0.5-1.5 cm, many flowered; rachis pubescent and glandular; bracts overlapping, glabrous and inconspicuously glandular. Female flowers with 4 bracteoles. Ovary velutinous; stigmas 2, bright red, slender. Drupe dark red or purple-red at maturity, globose, 1-1.5 cm in diam., to 3 cm when cultivated,

papilliferous; papillae to 3.5 mm. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. May-Jul.

Commonly cultivated for its edible fruit, this taxon is usually cited as Myrica rubra (Loureiro) Siebold & Zuccarini. However, in their publication of 1846, Siebold & Zuccarini provided a description only, with no reference, direct or indirect, to Morella rubra Loureiro (1790). Therefore, the name Myrica rubra Siebold & Zuccarini must be treated as new, preventing the combination in Myrica of Loureiro’s earlier name.

Forests in mountain slopes, valleys; 100-1500 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, Philippines].