锦美山茶 Camellia chinmeii S.L. Lee & T.Y.A. YangCamellia chinmeii

Camellia chinmeii S.L. Lee & T.Y.A. Yang in Taiwania 64(3): 321. fig. 1 & 2. 2019. TYPE: ——CHINA：Taiwan, Nantou County, Jenai Township, Mt. Weishangshan, S.L. Lee & C.W. Lee 26, 5 Dec. 2017 . (holotype, TAI; isotypes: KUN, TAI, TNM) . Firstly published in International Camellia Journal, 2016, 47-48.

Diagnosis: Similar to Camelia brevistyla, but differing in having fewer stamens, fewer filaments free from each other, longer styles and smaller fruit. It is also similar to Camellia confusa, but has smaller leaves and flowers, fewer stamens and smaller fruit. It is also similar to Camellia hengchuensis, but has thin leaves and globose fruit. It is also similar to Camellia kissi, but differs in having the filaments free from each, longer styles and globose fruit. 

Trees, to 10 m tall, evergreen. Bark smooth, turning yellowish brown with age. Buds dark green to dark brown, pubescent. Young branches pale yellowish green, turning pale brown at maturity, pubescent or sometimes glabrous. Leaves dark green; petiole 7‒10 mm long, both surfaces glabrous or sometimes pubescent; oblong or elliptic, 3.5‒5.5 cm long, 1.5‒3 cm wide, base acute to obtuse, margin slightly serrate, entire or nearly so toward base, apex acuminate; midrib prominent on both surfaces, glabrous on both surfaces and sometimes pubescent on lower surface, lateral veins 6 pairs; texture thick papery to thin coriaceous. Flowers terminal or axillary, usually in pairs, sessile, 2.5‒3.5 cm. in diam.; perules 6 to 10, sometimes more, ovate, adaxially glabrous, abaxially velutinous, deciduous; petals 4 or 5, white, glabrous adaxially, velutinous abaxially, base slightly connate, margin sericeous, apex emarginate, deciduous; stamens 28‒48, 7‒10 mm long, 2-seriate, free from each other or slightly connate, radially expanding, anthers versatile; styles 6‒7 mm long, connate 1/2‒2/3 from base, glabrous, stigmas 3 or sometimes 2, ovary locules 2 or 3, tomentose. Fruit a capsule, dark brown, globose, beaked or not, ca. 8‒12 mm long, 7‒10 mm in diameter, sparsely hairy; seeds 1 or 2, brown. Flowering October to December; fruits maturing four months later. 

Distribution and ecology: Endemic to Taiwan. Camellia chinmeii mainly occurs in mountainous areas between 2000 and 2350 m on gentle slopes in forests on Mt. Weishangshan, Nantou County, in central Taiwan. 

Etymology: The specific epithet, chinmeii, honors Ms. Chin-Mei Hung, wife of the first author, who first recognized Camellia chinmeii as a new taxon in 2010; she passed away during a field trip on 6 December 2014. 

Endemic to Taiwan. Mt. Weishangshan, Nantou County, in central Taiwan. 

锦美山茶 Camellia chinmeii S.L. Lee & T.Y.A. Yang in Taiwania 64(3): 321 (2019).

特征集要：与短柱茶（Camelia brevistyla）相似，但雄蕊较少，花丝游离较少，花柱较长，果实较小。与小果短柱茶（Camellia confusa）相似，但叶片和花朵较小，雄蕊较少，果实较小。与恒春山茶（Camellia hengchuensis）相似，但叶片较薄，果实球形。也与落瓣油茶（Camellia kissi）相似，但花丝游离较少，花柱较长，果实球形。

乔木，高达10米，常绿。树皮平滑，随树龄变黄褐色。芽深绿色至深褐色，被柔毛。幼枝淡黄绿色，成熟后淡褐色，被柔毛或有时无毛。叶深绿色；叶柄长7-10毫米，两面无毛或有时被柔毛；花长圆形或椭圆形，长3.5-5.5厘米，宽1.5-3厘米，基部急尖至钝，边缘微有锯齿，全缘或近全缘，先端渐尖；中脉两面均明显，两面无毛，有时下面被柔毛，侧脉6对；质地厚纸质至薄革质。花顶生或腋生，通常成对，无柄，直径2.5-3.5厘米；唇瓣6-10枚，有时更多，卵形，上面无毛，下面被茸毛，脱落；花瓣4或5枚，白色，上面无毛，下面被茸毛，基部稍合生，边缘被绢毛，先端微凹，脱落；雄蕊28-48枚，长7-10毫米，2列，离生或微合生，放射状膨大，花药多；花柱长6-7毫米，距基部1/2-2/3处合生，无毛；柱头3或有时2，子房室2-3，被绒毛。果为蒴果，深褐色，球形，有喙或无喙，长约8-12毫米，直径7-10毫米，疏被毛；种子1-2粒，褐色。花期10月至12月；果实成熟期4个月后。

分布与生态：台湾特有种。锦美山茶主要分布于台湾中部南投县围山海拔2000至2350米的缓坡林区。

词源：种加词 chinmeii 是为了纪念洪锦美女士，她是第一作者的妻子，最早在2010年认出茶花 chinmeii 是一个新分类群；她在2014年12月6日的一次实地考察中去世。

台湾特有种。主要分布于台湾中部南投县。