Sterculia brevissima H.H. Hsue, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 15(1): 74 1977

Synonyms
Sterculia brevipetiolata H.T.Tsai & P.I.Mao, not Merrill

Diagnostics
Small trees. Elongate leaves, alternate, clustered at twig endings, petiole shorter than 1.3 cm. Flowers in large, sparsely flowered panicles. Flowers white-purplish, with sparse long hairs. Fruit consisting of several flat elongate capsules connected at base, giving a star shaped appearance, brown-red coloured, hairy on the outside, with brown seeds exposed when opening.

Description
Small trees or shrubs. Branchlets yellow-brown villous when very young. Leaves apically clustered. Stipules lanceolate, ca. 7 mm; petiole short, almost absent or 5-12 mm, gray pubescent; leaf blade oblanceolate or narrowly oblanceolate-elliptic, 15-30 x 4-7 cm, papery, both surfaces glabrous, lateral veins 14-16 on each side of midrib, base attenuate, apex acuminate or obtusely acute. Inflorescence slender, racemose or paniculate, axillary, pendulous. Epicalyx lobes linear- lanceolate, ca. 7 mm, as long as pedicels. Calyx pink, purple below middle, sparsely stellate villous, tube campanulate, lobes elliptic-lanceolate, ca. 8 x 3 mm, ca. 3x as long as calyx tube. Androgynophore slender, curved, ca. 4.5 mm. Ovary globose, densely tomentose; style reflexed. Fruit stipe ca. 3 cm; follicle red-brown, ellipsoid, ca. 8 x 2 cm, abaxially densely puberulent, both ends attenuate. Seeds brown, globose, ca. 1 cm in diam. [from Flora of China]

Ecology
Gullies or slopes in mixed forests or rain forests, up to 1300 m elevation.

Distribution
Southern Yunnan.

Local names
China: Duan bing ping po.