Meliosma SABIACEAE-BALSAMINACEAE Impatient 



nate; margins entire or remotely crenate-serrate, 2-16 cm. 



long: fr. black. 



Ovary pubescent; petals orbicular, not emarginate, chartaceous; 

 sepals ovate, 1.2-1.5 mm. long: lfts. white-hairy beneath, 

 especially along the nerves 7. M. oldhami 



Ovary glabrous; outer petals obcordate, emarginate, thin-mem- 

 branous; sepals oblong, 2-3 mm. long: lfts. brown-hairy along 

 the nerves beneath 8. M. veitchiorum 



1. Meliosma pannosa Hand.-Mazz. (H.-M. 7:644). Evergreen tree, to 15 m.; fls. 

 yellow, VI-VII; fr. black IX-X. Southern and central China; locally in Che., 

 Hun., Hup., Ki. Forest. 



2. Meliosma parviflora Lecomte (M. dilatata Diels) MMW (Meng Tz'u T'eng; Thorn- 

 covered Vine) (BSBF 54:676; O.B.Z. 88:260). Evergreen tree, to 15 m.; fls. white, 

 VII; fr. reddish, X. Central and western China; locally in Che., Ku. Forest. 



3. Meliosma myriantha Sieb. & Zucc. (M. stewardii Merr.) WX^MTtM (Lu Shan 

 P'ao Hua Shu) (R.M. 594; R.B. 434). Shrub or tree, to 10 m.; fls. white, VI-VII; 

 fr. red, IX-X. Central China; locally in Che., Hun., Ki., Ku. Forest. 



4. Meliosma pilosa Lecomte W& : MtWl (Che Chiang P'ao Hua Shu) (BSBF 54:676). 

 Tree, to 20 m.; fls. white or yellowish, VI-VII; fr. red, IX-X. Central and west 

 China; locally in An., Che. Forest. 



5. Meliosma cuneifolia Franch. (R.M. 594). Shrub or tree, to 6m.; fls. yellowish 

 white, VI-VII; fr. black, IX-X. Western and central China; locally in An., Che. 

 Forest. 



6. Meliosma flexuosa Pamp. (M. pendens Rehd. & Wils.) Hfe^jtf (Ch'ui Chih 

 P'ao Hua Shu) (R.M. 594; R.B. 434). Shrub or tree, to 8 m., fls. white, VI-VII: 

 fr. black (?), IX-X. Central China; locally in Che., Hun., Hup., Ki. Forest. 



7. Meliosma oldhami Miq. WfMWiffi (Nanking K'o Nan Shu) (R.M. 595). Tree, to 

 20 m.; fls. white, VI; fr. black, IX. China, Korea; locally in An., Che., Ki., Ku. 

 Forest. 



8. Meliosma veitchiorum Hemsl. (R.M. 594). Tree, to 15m.; fls. yellow, VI; fr. 

 black, VII-VIII; lvs. 4-8 dm. long. Central China; locally in An. Forest. 



Foi a critical treatment of Chinese species of Meliosma see " Revision der chinesichen 

 Meliosma- Ar ten " by Georg Cufodontis in Osterreichische Botanische Zeitschrift (Wein) 88: 

 246-268 (1939). Bibliog. 



102. BALSAMINACEAE Balsam Family EWE^r (Feng Hsien Hua K'o) 



Erect succulent herbs with simple estipulate lvs. and showy irregular perfect fls. : 

 infl. on 1-2-fld. peduncles: sepals 3 (rarely 5), usually petaloid, one of them spurred; 

 petals 3 or 5; stamens 5, opposite the petals; disk wanting: fr. a capsule or berry. 2 

 genera with about 450 species, especially abundant in the mountains of tropical Asia 

 and Africa; one genus and 40 species in China. 



1. Impatiens Linn. Balsam JHf^TtM (Feng Hsien Hua Shu) 



Sepals usually 3; petals 3, the lateral ones each formed by the union of a pair of 

 lateral petals: fr. a capsule, elastically dehiscent. About 420 species; 40 in China. 

 (Latin: impatiens, impatient, on account of the sudden bursting of the pods when 

 touched.) 



235 



