Jack Tree

Trees to 7 m tall. Trunk to 10 cm d.b.h. Branchlets densely gray-brown stellate pubescent. Petiole ca. 5 mm; leaves of 2 types; leaves at base of flower bearing branches with blade ovate, 2--5 X 1.5--2 cm, base rounded to slightly cordate; other leaves with blade obovate to elliptic, 3--9 X 2--5 cm, base cuneate to subrounded; all blades glabrous or sparsely stellate pubescent, margin serrate, apex acute, veins 5--7 pairs. Inflorescences 3--5-flowered, 3--5 cm. Pedicel ca. 5 cm. Flowers pendulous. Calyx tube ca. 4 mm, densely stellate pubescent; teeth 5--7, lanceolate. Corolla lobes oblong-elliptic, 8--12 X ca. 6 mm, apex obtuse. Filaments ca. 4 mm, sparsely stellate pubescent. Style ca. 8 mm. Fruit ovoid including a conical rostrum, 1.8--2 X 0.8--1.5 cm, exocarp ca. 1 mm thick, mesocarp 3--3.5 mm thick. Seeds dark brown, cylindrical-linear, ca. 1 cm. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Jul-Sep.

Jiangsu.

* Forest edges; 500--800 m.

Sinojackia xylocarpa is a species of flowering plant in the family Styracaceae. It is endemic to eastern China in Jiangsu province, where it occurs at altitudes of 500–800 m. It is threatened by habitat loss.

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 7 m tall, with a trunk up to 10 cm diameter. The leaves are alternate, simple, with a serrated margin and a 5 mm petiole; they are mostly 3–9 cm long and 2–5 cm broad and obovate to elliptic, but the leaves subtending inflorescences are smaller, 2–5 cm long and 1–2 cm broad. The inflorescences are 3–5 cm long, bearing three to five flowers with five petals.