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Rehderodendron

Family

Styracaceae

A genus of nine or ten species of deciduous trees, one in Indochina, the others in S. and W. China. Flowers in short, leafless, axillary racemes or panicles. Corolla with five petals free from one another except at the very base. Ovary inferior. Fruits very large, ribbed, not winged, containing one to three cylindrical seeds.

The genus Rehderodendron was established by Dr H. H. Hu in 1932, and named by him in honour of Dr Alfred Rehder of the Arnold Arboretum. The species described here, R. macrocarpum, is the type-species of the genus and the only one so far introduced to cultivation. By 1935 seven other species had been described, and two others were added later. The fact that all these were entirely new discoveries, not transfers from other genera, is further proof of the vast wealth of the temperate flora of China. The history of this genus also shows that even so diligent and observant a plant collector as Wilson may sometimes be caught napping. For, as Dr Hu pointed out, he most probably passed near the type-tree of Rehderodendron during his visit to Mount Omei.

Species articles