''Wuodendron'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of plants in the family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

and tribe

Miliuseae The ''Malmeoideae'' are a subfamily of trees and other plants of the family Annonaceae. Tribes and Genera The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, which recognises Malmeoideae as one of four subfamilies, containing 9 tribes and the following genera: ...

, containing the type and only species ''Wuodendron praecox''. It is distributed from northeastern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

north to southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and southeast through most of

Mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Conservation status and description

The single species (under its synonym ''P. litseifolia'') is described as a subtropical and

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fores ...

tree growing to 40 m tall, with greyish brown bark and

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

, brown branches. Under this name it has been considered

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, which considers it to have a much smaller range (only

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

, China) than the wider range now recorded, considering the synonyms and revised nomenclature. The leaves are elliptic and 90-200 × 45-80 mm on 6-10 mm petioles; they are adaxially furrowed, glabrous and often with an axillary bud at the base. Reticulate veins are elevated on both surfaces, with 10-16 secondary veins on each side of midvein.

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s are single-flowered and axillary, on 20 - 35 mm, glabrous peduncles.

Sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are triangular to lanceolate, approx. 12 mm,

puberulent Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

on the outside and glabrous inside. The petals are broadly linear, 60-90 × 7-11 mm, with a midrib and 2-4 parallel secondary veins. There are many

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s, approx. 1.5 mm, truncate at the apices. There are 5 or 6, glabrous

carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

s, with 3 ovules per carpel; stigmas are clavate and puberulent. The fruit are oblong to ovoid (30-35 × 20-25 mm) and singular on 10-30 mm stalks; constricted between seeds (typically 3 per monocarp), glabrous and warty. In southern China, flowering is from April-July and fruiting is from May-September.Flora of China: ''Polyalthia litseifolia'' C. Y. Wu ex P. T. Li (retrieved March 2021)
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References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q89900518, from2=Q95989382, from3=Q5476393 Annonaceae Annonaceae genera Flora of Asia Endangered flora of Asia Monotypic magnoliid genera