Cornus poliophylla C.K.Schneid & Wangerin

Cornus poliophylla was described from E.H. Wilson’s collection W 2167 in western Hubei in 1901. Flora of China (Xiang & Boufford 2005) treated it as a more northerly subspecies of C. schindleri (= C. scabrida), but molecular data indicates that it is a good species in its own right (Du et al. 2023). It is differentiated from C. scabrida by bud shape (conical, not rounded), relative length of anthers (longer filaments relative to the petals), and by the type of pubescence (trichomes appressed, brown, not curly, yellow); it lacks the shining, silky indumentum of C. scabrida.

Wilson made two further collections for the Arnold Arboretum in 1908, from western Sichuan at 2300 m: W 807 was a small 7 m tree, W 1846 a 1.8 m bush; Clarke (1988) asserts that Wilson’s material (presumably W 807) was introduced to the Arboretum the same year. An important seed collection, probably quite widely disseminated in botanical collections, was that of Joseph Hers in 1919 from northern Hunan (Hers 1308), distributed by Jacques de Vilmorin acting as intermediary (e.g. to the Arnold Arboretum in 1920 under PI 50411); plants appearing in European collections in mid-century may well be traceable to this collection (Hers 1922; Bulletin de la Société dendrologique de France 1922). Interestingly, Hunan is outside the current documented range of either subspecies, and in view of the extent of habitat loss and degradation in western China during the twentieth century, material deriving from Hers 1308 may have acquired some significance in terms of extra situ conservation – see the species entry. Kew did not acquire plants until 1970, from the Kornik Arboretum, Poland (Bean 1976), the ultimate provenance unclear (Acc: 1970–6180).

Within its existing range the species is not uncommon, and has been introduced by several expeditions in recent decades: material from a variety of geographical locations is now well represented in Western collections, including SICH 1201 (Sichuan), WD 041 (Hubei) and NACPEC 02064 (Shanxi). Hers recorded the Hunanese vernacular name as hei liang tze (Hers 1922).