Vasilis Teodoridis:
Magnoliaceae | Michelia
21. Michelia mediocris Dandy; J. Bot. 66: 47. 1928.
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Magnolia mediocris (Dandy) Figlar; Michelia mediocris var. angustifolia G. A. Fu; M. rubriflora Y. W. Law & R. Z. Zhou; M. subulifera Dandy.
Trees; to 25 m tall; to 90 cm d.b.h. Bark grayish brown. Young twigs and young leaf blades grayish white appressed pubescent. Buds reddish brown; pendulous; apex acute. Petiole 1.5-3 cm; without a stipular scar; leaf blade rhomboid-elliptic; 6-13 x 3-5 cm; thinly leathery; abaxially grayish white appressed puberulous; adaxially glabrous; secondary veins 10-15 on each side of midvein; slender; and inconspicuous; reticulate veins dense; base cuneate to broadly cuneate; apex shortly acuminate. Spathaceous bracts 3. Flower buds ellipsoid; 10-15 x 5-9 mm; densely brownish yellow to grayish white appressed puberulous. Tepals 9; white; spoon-shaped; 1.8-2.2 x 0.5-0.8 cm. Stamens 1-1.5 cm; connective exserted and forming a 3-4 mm long tip; anthers 0.8-1.4 cm. Gynophore 3-5 mm; densely silvery appressed puberulous; gynoecium cylindric; ca. 1 cm; carpels 7-14; ovules 4 or 5 per carpel. Fruit blackish brown when matured; 2-3.5 cm; mature carpels obovoid; ellipsoid; or globose; 1-2 cm; slightly compressed; white lenticellate; apex with an obtuse beak. Seeds 5-8 x ca. 5 mm; testa bright red. Fl. Oct-Feb; fr. Jun-Nov.
Evergreen broad-leaved forests; 400-1000 m. Guangdong; Guangxi; Hainan; S Hunan [Cambodia; Vietnam].
Michelia biacuminata Y. W. Law & R. Z. Zhou and M. elliptifolia Y. W. Law & R. Z. Zhou (in Y. H. Liu; Magnolias China; 224; 246. 2004) belong here but were not validly published because no Latin descriptions or diagnoses were provided and no types were indicated (Vienna Code; Art. 36.1 and 37.1).