Sinofranchetia chinensis Hemsl.

Young branches farinaceous. Winter bud outer scales large. Leaves crowded, usually fascicled; petiole 10--20 cm; lateral petiolules very short, terminal one 1--3 cm; leaflets papery, abaxially glaucous or grayish green, adaxially dark green, apex acuminate; secondary veins 6 or 7 pairs; lateral leaflets smaller than terminal one; terminal leaflet rhomboid-obovate, 9--15 × 7--12 cm, base cuneate. Raceme pendulous, 15--30 cm, clustered. Pedicel 2--3 mm. Sepals greenish white with purple stripes, obovate, ca. 2 mm, ca. 2.5 mm in female flowers. Male flowers: petals 6, fleshy, subobcordate, less than 1 mm. Filaments fleshy, free; anthers oblong. Pistillodes small. Female flowers: petals very minute. Staminodes similar to stamens in shape but smaller. Carpels ellipsoid to obovoid-oblong, 1.5--2 mm. Stigma inconspicuous. Infructescences pendulous; fruit pale purplish blue, ellipsoid, ca. 2 × 1.5 cm. Seeds ovoid, 4--6 mm; seed coat brown to grayish black. Fl. May--Jun, fr. Sep--Oct.

* Dense forests along valleys, forest margins, among shrubs. Gansu, N Guangdong, Hubei, W Hunan, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, NE Yunnan.

Parvatia chinensis Franchet, J. Bot. (Morot) 8: 281. 1894; Holboellia chinensis (Franchet) Diels.