572 WILSON EXPEDITION TO CHINA 



The fruits of Henry's No. 6719 agree verj^ well with Pampanini's description and 

 figure; and Wilson's No. 172^ seems nearer to this variety than to the type, though 

 the fruits are slightly smaller. The flowering branch of Wilson's specimen has 

 staminate flowers with very slender pedicels almost like those of H. chinensis, var. 

 longipedicellata Wangerin. 



AUCUBA Thurb. 



Aucuba chinensis Bentham, Fl. Hongk. 138 (1861). — Hemsley in 

 Jour. Linn. Soc. XXIII. 346 (1888). — Henry in Trans. As. Soc. Jap. 

 XXIV. suppl. 48 {List PI. Formosa) (1896). — Matsumura & Hayata 

 in Jour. Coll. Sci. Tokyo, XXII. 178 {Enum. PI. Formos.) (1906). — 

 Wangerin in Engler, Pflaiizenr. IV.-229, 40, fig. 9 b, c (1910).— 

 Schneider, III. Handb. Lauhholzk. II. 455, fig. 502 k (1909). — Leveille, 

 Fl. Ivouy-Tcheou, 115 (1914). 



Aucuha japonica Harms in Bot. Jahrb. XXIX. 507 (non Thunberg) (1900). 

 Aucuba japonica, var longifolia Nakai in Tokyo Bot. Mag. XXIII. 43 (pro 

 parte) (1909), quoad synon. A. chinensis. 



Western Hupeh: north and south of Ichang, thickets, alt. 30- 

 1000 m., April 10 and June 1907 (No. 2047) ; bush 1-3 m. tall, fruit red) ; 

 without precise locality. May 1900 (Veitch Exped. No. 314). Western 

 Szech'uan: Mt. Omei, October 1903 (Veitch Exped. No. 3701); 

 same locality, June 1904 (Veitch Exped. No. 4955; Nanch'uan, A. 

 von Rosthorn (No. 456). Yunnan: Feng-chen-lin Mt., forests, alt. 

 2300-2500 m., A. Henry (Nos. 10122, 10123); Mengtsze, forests 

 east, A. Henry (No. 10123*). Hongkong: Happy Valley, De- 

 cember 1, 1899, Mou. Formosa: Bankinsing, A. Henry (No. 140). 



This species is exceedingly variable. Most of the forms from central and west- 

 em China differ from the type as represented by the Hongkong plant in their 

 smaller leaves, shorter fruiting panicles and smaller fruits. The Hongkong plant 

 with which Wilson's Nos. 3701 and 4955 from Mt. Omei agree has large generally 

 oblong leaves 12-20 cm. long and 3.5-8 cm. broad, elongated fruiting panicles 

 with the peduncle 8-10 cm. long and distinctly pedicelled oblong fruits about 2 

 cm. long. All the other specimens from central and western China have smaller 

 leaves varj'ing from obovate to linear-oblong and from coarsely dentate to nearly 

 entire, short glomerulate panicles with the peduncle about 3-4 cm. long and ovoid 

 fruits tapering toward the apex and 1.2-1.5 cm. long; the leaves are quite or nearly 

 glabrous beneath except on Henry's No. 10123 from Yunnan, which has the midrib 

 and the lateral veins covered with short spreading hairs. As stated above the 

 leaves of the western plant vary from obovate to linear-oblong and as the most 

 extreme forms look very distinct, they may be distinguished as follows: 



Aucuba chinensis, forma obcordata Rehder, n. f. 



A typo recedit foliis obovatis, basin versus sensim angustatis et infra medium 

 integris v. fere integris, apice truncatis et in dentem medium longum acutum 

 desinentibus, dentibus lateralibus minoribus interdum ad mucrones reductis, 8-14 

 cm. longis et 4.5-8 cm. latis. 



