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(31) 香港巴豆
Croton hancei Benth.
大戟科 (Euphorbiaceae)
英文名 (English name): Hong Kong Croton, Hance's Croton
Status in China: Critically endangered (CR)
Description: Shrubs or small trees; young branches and inflorescences covered with appressed stellate hairs. Leaves crowded near apex of branches, papery, oblong-lanceolate, usually 8-12 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, apex acuminate, base attenuate, entire or serrulate, glabrous on both surfaces, with a stipitate cupular gland on each side of midrib at base; petiole short, hairy. Racemes terminal, ca. 3 cm long. Male flower: numerous, dense; pedicels short; flower buds globose, 2 mm in diam.; sepals ovate; petals narrow and small; stamens 16, filaments woolly hairy. Female flower: usually solitary at base of inflorescences; sepals oblong, 4-5 mm long; ovary subglobose, dense hairy, stigmas 3.
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Distribution: Endemic to Hong Kong and restricted to Tsing Yi Island.
Habitat and ecology: In montane forest. Flowering: June.
Discovered in Hong Kong Island around 1850 and re-discovered in Tsing Yi Island recently, this rare species is of special botanical interests. It is endemic to Hong Kong and has a very restricted distribution with only a few small populations. Consideration should be given to list the locality with a high density of this species as a Site of Special Scientific Interests (SSSIs). AFCD have been actively propagating this plant and reintroducing it into the wild. Ex-situ conservation has also been carried out and living specimens are displayed in the Shing Mun Arboretum.
References:
丘華興， 1996：中國植物誌 44(2): 136. 科學出版社，北京。
Bentham, G., 1861: Flora Hongkongensis: 308. Reeves, London.
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