Gaultheria sinensis J.Anthony

Leaves elliptic-oblong or oblong-obovate, {1/2} in. or slightly more long and about one-third as wide, mostly acute at the apex, glossy and of leathery texture, hairy on the midrib beneath, margins glabrous. Flowers urn-shaped. Fruits blue-pink or white, globular or fig-shaped. This species was found by Forrest in Yunnan and extends westward to the Assam Himalaya. The date of first introduction is not known but probably most of the plants in cultivation derive from seeds collected by Kingdon Ward on the frontier between Burma and Assam under KW 8562. The herbarium specimen under this number is referred to G. hypochlora Airy Shaw, which is part of G. sinensis as understood by Anthony, but differs from the type of that species in the less leathery, relatively wider leaves (about half as wide as long), rounded at the apex. This is also true of at least some of the cultivated plants raised from KW 8562 but it is preferable to leave them under G. sinensis until the taxonomy of this group is better understood.