Vasilis Teodoridis:
Saxifragaceae | Hydrangea
1. Hydrangea chinensis Maximowicz; Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint Pétersbourg. ser. 7; 10(16): 7. 1867.
???? zhong guo xiu qiu
Hydrangea angustipetala Hayata; H. angustipetala var. major W. T. Wang & M. X. Nie; H. chloroleuca Diels; H. jiangxiensis W. T. Wang & M. X. Nie; H. macrosepala Hayata; H. obovatifolia Hayata; H. scandens (Linnaeus f.) Seringe subsp chinensis (Maximowicz) E. M. McClintock; H. umbellata Rehder.
Shrubs 0.5-4 m tall. First and 2nd years branchlets red-brown to brown; pubescent when young; glabrescent. Petiole 0.5-2 cm; glabrous or pubescent; leaf blade lanceolate; narrowly elliptic; or obovate; 5-12 x 1.5-4 cm; papery to thinly so; both surfaces sparsely pubescent or glabrous except along veins; abaxially usually barbate at vein axils; secondary veins 4-7 on both sides of midvein; abaxially slightly elevated; base cuneate to subacute; margin subentire to roughly serrate; apex caudate-acuminate to acute. Inflorescences umbellate or subcorymbose; 3-7 cm; 10-14 cm wide in fruit; apex flat or slightly arcuate; branches 3 or 5; equal or central one longer and thicker; pubescent. Sterile flowers with sepals 3 or 4; elliptic; obovate; ovate-orbicular; or broadly orbicular; 1.1-3 x 1-3 cm in fruit; margin entire; undulate; or few denticulate. Fertile flowers with calyx tube cupular to campanulate; 0.5-1.5 x 1.5-2 mm; teeth lanceolate to triangular-ovate; 0.5-2 mm. Petals yellow; elliptic to oblanceolate; 2.5-3.5 x 1-1.2 mm; base with a claw ca. 0.5 mm; apex subacute. Stamens 8-11; subequal; 2-4.5 mm; anthers oblong; 0.6-1 mm. Ovary ca. 1/2 or more superior. Styles 3 or 4; erect or slightly spreading; 1-2 mm in fruit; stigmas usually enlarged; decurrent along both sides of style. Capsule fusiform to ovoid-globose; 3.5-5 x 2.4-3.5 mm; projected apical part 1.5-2.5 mm; equaling or slightly longer than calyx tube. Seeds brownish; ellipsoid; ovoid; or subglobose; slightly compressed; 0.5-1 x 0.4-0.5 mm; wingless; seed coat net veined. Fl. Mar-Aug; fr. May-Oct.
Sparse to dense forests on mountain slopes; mountain tops; or in valleys; 300-2000 m. Anhui; Fujian; Guangxi; Hunan; Jiangxi; Taiwan; Zhejiang [Japan].
Hydrangea chinensis is a very common and widespread taxon that forms a species complex out of which a number of segregate species have been recognized. One of the present authors (Bartholomew) feels that species nos. 2-4 below all fall within the pattern of variation found in H. chinensis; in the synonymy of which they would be better treated.