广防已 guang fang yi

Aristolochia fangchi Y. C. Wu ex L. D. Chow & S. M. Hwang, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 13(2): 108. 1975 (includes Latin diagnosis), nom. inval.

Shrubs climbing. Stems terete, obscurely striate, villous. Petiole 1-4 cm, densely brown villous; leaf blade oblong to ovate-oblong, rarely ovate-lanceolate, 6-16 × 3.5-5 cm, leathery, abaxially densely brown or gray pubescent, adaxially villous along veins, veins pinnate, 4-6 pairs, base rounded, apex acute or obtuse. Racemes on old woody stems, 2-4-flowered, 4-6 cm. Pedicel 5-7 cm, pendulous, densely villous; bractlets subulate, 3-8 × ca. 1 mm. Calyx purple with yellow blotches, throat white; tube horseshoe-shaped, abaxially densely villous; basal portion of tube 40-50 × 8-10 mm; limb subrotund-peltate, 4-6 cm in diam., shallowly 3-lobed; lobes equal, acute. Anthers oblong, 4-5 mm. Gynostemium 3-lobed. Capsule 5-10 × 3-5 cm, dehiscing basipetally. Seeds ovoid-deltoid, 5-7 × 3-4 mm. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jul-Sep.

* Dense forests, thickets, on slopes; 500-1000 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou.

When originally published (Chow and Hwang, loc. cit.), this name was invalid under Art. 8.1 and 37 of the St. Louis Code because two types were indicated (one flowering, one fruiting). The flowering specimen has here been chosen as the holotype because the flower is much more clearly diagnostic in this genus than the fruit. The specific epithet is derived from the vernacular name.

This species is used medicinally.