广东毛蕊茶 Camellia melliana Hand.-Mazz.Camellia melliana

Camellia melliana, Subgenus Metacamellia, Sect. Eriandria, Chang Hung-ta and Bruce Bartholomew (1984). Camellias, p.202: Camellia melliana Hand. -Mazz., Anz. Akad. Wiss. Math. Nat. Wien 59:58. 1922. [Description] This species is very close to C. cordifolia only the leaf blades are narrowly oblong, 3-5cm long, 1-1.3 cm wide. [Distribution] Guangdong. [Synonym] Thea melliana (Hand. -Mazz.)Merr, Lingnan Sci. Journ. 7: 315. 1931.

Gao Jiyin, Clifford R. Parks, Du Yueqiang, 2005, Collected Species of the Genus Camellia an Illustrated Outline，p.137. Flowers are white, 1.3-1.5 cm in diameter, mostly borne in leaf axils; bud set may be abundant. Pedicels 2-3 mm long, pubescent. Bracts 4, persistent, villous. Sepals 5, persistent, villous on the outer surface. Petals 5-6, 7-12 mm long and6-10 mm wide, obovate with tip rounded, united from the base with the staminal column up to 3 mm. Androecium 7-10 mm long, outermost filaments fused from the base into a tube 4-6 mm long, free portion villous. Gynoecium densely villous, 9 mm long, 3 styles, mostly fused, shallowly divided at the tip, ovary tomentose. Blooming season: spring. Capsule subglobose, about 1 cm in diameter, 1 locule, pericarp wall 1 mm thick. Seeds glabrous. Leaves oblong to oblong-ovate, tip acuminate, base rounded, 3.0-6.5 cm long, 1.0-1.5 cm wide, margin thinly serrulate, thinly coriaceous, upper surface smooth with villous midrib, lower surface smooth with villous midrib. Petioles 1-2 mm long, densely villous. Shrub up to 2 m tall, young shoots densely villose, older branches gray-brown in color. Distribution: Conghua, Lianping, Longmen, and Zengcheng in Guangdong Province; Elevation: 450-700 m; Specific locality: Sanjiaoshan between Longmen County and Zhengcheng City, Guangdong Province, China.

Camellia melliana has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2015. Camellia melliana is listed as Near Threatened.

广东毛蕊茶Camellia melliana Hand.-Mzt. in Anz. Akad. Wiss. Math. Nat. Wien. 59：58, 1922. 张宏达，1981. 《山茶属植物的系统研究》第174页。【标本】广东：增城，曾怀德20079；龙门，冯钦18702；龙门，李学根200269；从化，曾沛137。分布：广东。【形态特征】与心叶连蕊茶C. cordifdia 非常接近，只是叶片狭窄长圆形，长3-5厘米，宽1-1.3厘米。

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137页。花白色，直径1.3~1.5厘米，多腋生，花芽稠密。花柄长2~3毫米，被柔毛。苞片4枚，宿存，被长丝毛，萼片5枚，宿存，背面有长绒毛。花瓣5~6枚，长7~12毫米，宽6~10毫米，倒卵形，背面被微柔毛，先端圆，基部与雄蕊连生3毫米。雄蕊长7~10毫米，外轮花丝基部连生形成4~6毫米长短管。雌蕊密被长柔毛，长约9毫米，花柱先端3浅裂，子房密被绒毛。花期春季。蒴果近球形，直径约1厘米，1室，果皮厚约1毫米。种子无毛。叶长圆形至长卵形，先端渐尖，基部圆形，长3.0~6.5厘米，宽1.0~1.5厘米，边缘具细齿，薄革质，叶面中脉被硬毛，叶背被稀疏硬毛，中脉密被丝毛，侧脉两面不明显。叶柄长1~2毫米，密被长柔毛。灌木，高可达2米，嫩技密被长柔毛，老枝灰褐色。分布：广东省连平、龙门、从化、增城一带，海拔450-700米。可寻地点:广东省龙门县至增城市之间的三角山。

广东毛蕊茶最近一次于 2015年进行了IUCN濒危等级评估，被评为近危Near Threatened（NT）。