Daphne acutiloba

[Chinese] daphne is in the Thymelaeaceae family and is native to China, specifically the provinces of Hube, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. It is an evergreen shrub that reaches up to 2.0 m tall.

• Branches are few, yellowish green, turning purplish reddish brown, appressed tomentosa; and young shoots are covered with pale, forward-pointing bristles, becoming glabrous and purplish brown in the second season.
• Leaves are leathery, oblanceolate or lanceolate, tapered on both ends, pointed, 4–10 cm long and 1.2–3.3 cm across, 7–12 vein pairs, glossy and quite glabrous on both surfaces; petiole up to 8 mm long.
• Flowers are in terminal inflorescences of 5–7 flowers; for each flower, calyx is white, perianth is tubular, 2.1 cm long and 1.8 cm across, with 4 narrowly ovate-oblong lobes; flower stalks are bristly; blooming is in April-May.
• Fruit is an ellipsoid drupe 8 mm long, green and turning dark red in July–September.