Ilex pubescens Hook. & Arn.

Shrubs or small trees, evergreen, 3-8 m tall. Branchlets gray-brown, somewhat zigzag, subquadrangular, densely hirsute or villous, longitudinally ridged and rugose; leaf scars slightly raised, nearly crescent-shaped; lenticels absent; terminal buds often poorly developed or absent. Stipules persistent, deltoid, hirsute, apically acute; petiole 2.5-5 mm, densely hirsute; leaf blade olivaceous or deep olivaceous when dry, elliptic, oblong, obovate, or narrowly ovate, 2-6(-10) × 1-2.5(-7) cm, thickly papery, papery, or membranous, both surfaces hirsute, midvein flattened or slightly impressed adaxially, densely hirsute, lateral veins 4 or 5 pairs, evident abaxially, obscure adaxially, anastomosing near margin, reticulate veins obscure on both surfaces, base obtuse, margin sparsely and sharply serrulate or subentire, apex acute or shortly acuminate, or abruptly acuminate. Inflorescences: cymes, fasciculate or pseudopaniculate, axillary on first to second year’s branchlets, densely hirsute. Male inflorescences: cymes of order 1 or 2, 1- or 3-flowered; pedicels 1.5-2 mm; bracteoles 2, basal; peduncles when present 1-1.5 mm; flowers pink or white, 4- or 6-merous; calyx patelliform, ca. 2 mm in diam., hirsute, deeply 5- or 6-lobed, lobes ovate-deltoid, ciliate; corolla rotate, 4-5 mm in diam., petals 4-6, ovate-oblong or obovate, ca. 2 mm, basally slightly connate, apex rounded; stamens ca. 3/4 as long as petals, anthers oblong; rudimentary ovary pulvinate, rostellate. Female inflorescences: cymes of order 1(or 2), 1(-3)-flowered; pedicels 2-3 mm, with basal bracteoles; flowers 5-8-merous; calyx patelliform, ca. 2.5 mm in diam., (5 or)6- or 7-lobed, hirsute, apex acute; corolla rotate, petals 5-8, oblong, ca. 2 mm, apex rounded; staminodes ca. 1/2 as long as petals, sterile anthers sagittate; ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm, ca. 1.3 mm in diam., glabrous, styles evident, stigma capitate or thickly discoid. Fruit red, globose, 3-4 mm in diam.; fruiting pedicel ca. 4 mm, densely hirsute; persistent calyx explanate, ca. 3 mm in diam., 5-lobed, lobes ovate, hirsute; persistent style evident, stigma thickly discoid or capitate; pyrenes (5 or)6(or 7), ellipsoidal, (2.3-)3 mm, (0.8-)1 mm in diam., pointed at both ends, abaxially longitudinally and broadly sulcate or not, 3-striate, laterally smooth, endocarp leathery or subwoody. Fl. Apr-May(-Jun), fr. Aug-Nov. 2n = 40*.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Taiwan, SE Yunnan, Zhejiang.

● Evergreen broad-leaved forests, forest margins, shrubby areas, streamsides, roadsides; (sea level to)100-1000 m.

Ilex pubescens, the downy holly or pubescent holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae, native to southern China, Hainan, and Taiwan. A shrub or small tree, it is found in a variety of habitats from sea level to about 1,000 m (3,300 ft). It is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for a variety of aliments.