扁蒴苣苔属 bian shuo ju tai shu

Herbs, perennial, epipetric, rhizomatous, stemless. Leaves few, basal; leaf blade sericeous to pubescent, base cuneate. Inflorescences lax, axillary, 1- or 2-flowered cymes; bracts apparently absent. Calyx zygomorphic, 2-lipped; adaxial lip undivided; abaxial lip 4-lobed. Corolla purplish, zygomorphic, inside pubescent to sparsely pilose; tube tubular, slightly gibbous abaxially toward limb, much longer than limb, 7-10 mm in diam.; limb 2-lipped; adaxial lip 2-lobed, shorter than abaxial lip; abaxial lip 3-lobed, lobes subequal, apex rounded. Stamens 4, adnate to corolla tube near middle, included; anthers basifixed, coherent in pairs, thecae divaricate, confluent at apex, dehiscing longitudinally; connective not projecting; staminode absent. Disc tubular. Ovary narrowly ellipsoid, 1-loculed; placentas 2, parietal, projecting inward and divaricate. Stigma 1, terminal, subcapitate, divided on 1 side. Capsule straight in relation to pedicel, narrowly ellipsoid, slightly longer than calyx, dehiscing loculicidally to base, splitting along 1 suture, straight, not twisted. Seeds unappendaged.

* One species: endemic to China.

Lower Taxon

• Cathayanthe biflora W. Y. Chun