Dobinea vulgaris Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don

Shrubs, 1-3 m tall; branchlets minutely pubescent. Leaves opposite; petiole 0.5-1.4 cm, minutely pubescent; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 7.5-11(-17.5) × 2.3-3.5(-5) cm, papery, sparsely puberulent or glabrescent on both surfaces, base rounded to cuneate, margin serrulate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence paniculate, terminal, ca. 18 cm, minutely pubescent. Male flowers subtended by linear bracteole; calyx campanulate, 4-lobed; petals 4, clawed; stamens 8, ones opposite to sepals longer; pistillode present. Female flowers subtended by linear bract; calyx, petals, and staminodes lacking; disk annular; ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm in diam., style longer than ovary, recurved. Fruit pedicel adnate to accrescent floral subtending bract, bract membranous, grayish white, suborbicular, 1-1.3 cm in diam., margin serrulate and ciliate, apex retuse to emarginate, mucronate, reticulately veined; fruit slightly compressed, 2-2.5 mm in diam.

Himalaya (Nepa,l to Bhutan), Assam, ?Burma.

SE Xizang (Mêdog), NW Yunnan (Gongshan) [Bhutan, NE India, Nepal].

1500-2300 m

Hill forests; 1300-1400 m.

Fruiting from September to October.

Dobinea vulgaris is close relative of Dobinea delavayi, but differs from the latter in its shrubs (vs. perennial herb), leaves opposite, oblong-lanceolate, base rounded, margin regularly serrulate (vs. alternate, ovate, base cordate, margin irregularly serrate), flowers 4-merous (vs. 4-5-merous), female inflorescence paniculate (vs. racemose), floral subtending bracts small with retuse to emarginate apex (vs. large with rounded apex), fruit 2-2.5 mm in diameter (vs. 3-4 mm).

Dobinea vulgaris is occurring in SE Xizang, NW Yunnan of China, Bhutan, NE India, Nepal.

Dobinea with two species (Dobinea vulgaris, Dobinea delavayi) endemic to east Asia, has been placed in three different families, the Podoaceae, tribe Acerineae of the Sapindaceae, and tribe Dobineeae of the Anacardiaceae. Phylogenetic relationships of the genus were examined based on DNA sequences of the chloroplast rbcL gene and the ITS region of nuclear ribosomal DNA (Pan et al., 2008). Results support the monophyly of Dobinea and its placement in the Anacardiaceae.

Shrubs, 1-3 m tall; branchlets minutely pubescent. Leaves opposite; petiole 0.5-1.4 cm, minutely pubescent; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 7.5-11 cm long, 2.3-3.5 cm wide, papery, sparsely puberulent or glabrescent on both surfaces, base rounded to cuneate, margin serrulate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence paniculate, terminal, ca. 18 cm, minutely pubescent. Male flowers subtended by linear bracteole; calyx campanulate, 4-lobed; petals 4, clawed; stamens 8, ones opposite to sepals longer; pistillode present. Female flowers subtended by linear bract; calyx, petals, and staminodes lacking; disk annular; ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm in diameter, style longer than ovary, recurved. Fruit pedicel adnate to accrescent floral subtending bract, bract membranous, grayish white, suborbicular, 1-1.3 cm in diameter, margin serrulate and ciliate, apex retuse to emarginate, mucronate, reticulately veined; fruit slightly compressed, 2-2.5 mm in diameter.

The chromosomal number of Dobinea vulgaris is 2n = 14 (Mehra, 1976).

Growing in hill forest; 1300-1400 m.