防城茶 Camellia fangchengensis S.Ye Liang & Y.C.ZhongCamellia fangchengensis

Camellia fangchenensis, Subgenus Thea, Sect. Thea, Ser. Sinenses Chang, Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 1981(1):96. 1981.  Chang Hung-ta and Bruce Bartholomew (1984). Camellias, p.150: Camellia fangchensis Liang & Zhong, Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 1982(3):118. 1982. [Description] Shrub or small tree, 3-5 m tall; bark greyish-brown; branchlets dark brown, terete, densely hirsute; older branches greyish-brown glabrous. Bud bracts pilose. Leaves sub-coriaceous, elliptic or oblong-elliptic 13.5-29 cm long, 5.5-12.5 cm wide, apices abruptly acute or obtuse, bases broadly cuneate or rounded; dark green above, yellowish-green in the dry state; light green below, greyish-green or greyish-brown in the dry state, densely pubescent, particularly along the midvein; lateral veins 11-17 pairs, raised along with the mid-vein; margins serrulate; petioles 3-10 mm long, canaliculate above, pubescent. Flowers small, white, 2. 1-3.5 cm in diameter, solitary or 2 born in leaf axils; pedicels 5-10 mm long, nodding, pubescent; bracts 2, early deciduous; sepals 5, sub-orbicular, 3-3. 5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, outer surface with greyish-brown appressed pubescence, persistent; petals 5, white, suborbicular or ovate, 10-15 mm long, 7-10 mm wide, apices rounded, bases slightly connate, exterior puberulent; stamens many, in 3-4 series, outer whorl basally slightly connate, inner whorls free, 7.5-10 mm long; anthers yellow; ovaries subglobose, 2-3 mm long, 3-locular, densely white pubescent; styles white, 6-10 mm long, apices 3-parted for 1/3 their length, bases pubescent. Capsules small, suborbicular or tricoccus oblate, with 3 sections separated by grooves, 1. 6-2 cm high, 1. 8-3. 2 cm wide, glabrous, 3-locular, usually 1 seed per locule, 3-valvatedehiscent; pericarp thin, less than 2 mm thick; seeds subglobose, slightly angular, 1. 3-1.7 cm high, 1. 3-1. 9 cm wide, yellowish-brown or blackish-brown; capsule pedicels 5-10 mm long, pubescent; 5 persistent sepals, subrotundate, pubescent. Flowering period November to February, and fruit mature from November to December. The main differences from C. ptilophylla are that the leaves are thinner and larger13.5-29 cm long and 5.5-12. 5 cm wide, sepals smaller 3-3. 5 mm long, and capsules larger 1. 8-3. 2 cm in diameter.

Zhao (2024): Camellia fangchengensis S. Ye Liang & Y.C. Zhong, Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 20(3): 118. 1981—Holotype: China. Guangxi: Fangcheng, Huashi, 320 m, 3 December 1980, Y.C. Zhong 80120 (GXFI; isotype: KUN 1206002!).

New branchlets and leaf buds densely pubescent. Leaf blade elliptic, 13–29 × 5.5–12.5 cm, abaxially pubescent, adaxially glabrous, base obtuse to rounded. Flower 2–3.5 cm in diameter. Pedicel 5–10 mm long, pubescent. Sepals 2.5–3.5 × 4–5 mm, outside pubescent, inside glabrous. Petals outside pubescent to glabrous. Ovary densely pubescent. Style apically 3-lobed, glabrous or basally pubescent. Fruit ca. 2 cm in diameter; pericarp ca. 0.5 mm thick. Fl. December to January, fr. June to December

Distribution. China: Guangxi.

Camellia fangchengensis has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2015. Camellia fangchengensis is listed as Critically Endangered under criteria B1ab(iii).

高继银、帕克斯、杜跃强，2005. 《山茶属植物主要原种彩色图集》浙江科学技术出版社，第214页。花白色，花径2.0~3.5厘米，腋生。花柄长5~10毫米，下弯，被柔毛。苞片和萼片7枚，宿存，外面被灰色柔毛。花瓣5~7枚，长1.0~1.5厘米，卵圆形，先端圆，基部与雄蕊柱略连生。雄蕊无毛，长约10毫米，花丝基部略合生形成短管。雌蕊长6~10毫米，先端3裂，子房密被黄色绒毛。花期秋末至春初。蒴果扁状三角形，直径1.8~3.5厘米，3室，果皮厚1.5毫米。叶椭圆形，先端短渐尖，基部阔楔形，长13.0~30.0厘米，宽5.5〜13.0厘米，边缘具细齿，薄革质，叶背被短柔毛，中脉和侧脉在叶片两面凸起。叶柄长3~10毫米,被黄色微毛。灌木或小乔木，高可达5米，嫩枝被黄色短柔毛，老枝无毛，灰褐色。分布：广西壮族自治区南部防城县一带的山坡或沟壑中有发现，海拔250-350米。可寻地点:广西壮族自治区防城县城华石乡那湾村。

Zhao (2024): 小枝和叶芽密被短柔毛。叶片椭圆形， 13-29 x 5.5-12.5 厘米，背面具短柔毛，正面无毛，基部钝到圆形。花直径 2-3.5 厘米。花梗长 5-10 毫米，被短柔毛。萼片 2.5-3.5 x 4-5 毫米，外面被短柔毛，里面无毛。花瓣外面被短柔毛到无毛。子房密被短柔毛。花柱顶部3裂，无毛或基部被短柔毛。果直径约2厘米；果皮厚约0.5毫米。花期12月至翌年1月，果期3月。花期12月至翌年1月，果期6月至12月。6月至12月。

防城茶最近一次于 2015年进行了IUCN濒危等级评估，被评为极危 Critically Endangered（CR）。