异腺草 yi xian cao

Perennials 15-40 cm tall. Stem prostrate at base, often much branched, pubescent, basally woody. Stipules 4-7 × ca. 1 mm, close with base on one side, auriculate, glabrous. Leaves scattered along stem but more concentrated and larger basally; petiole 0.2-1 cm, longer basally on stem, short to almost absent apically on stem; leaf blade elliptic to ovate, 0.9-4.5 × 0.5-2.5 cm, both surfaces pilose but abaxially more densely so, base broadly cuneate, margin entire, apex acute and mucronate. Inflorescence a spikelike raceme, 4-11 cm; peduncle densely pubescent; bracts ca. 2 × 0.5 mm. Flowers ca. 1.2 cm in diam. Pedicel to 2 mm, densely pubescent. Sepals 5, lanceolate, ca. 6 × 1 mm, glaucous, persistent; outer 3 sepals with spreading gland-tipped bristles. Petals 5, white to whitish mauve; claws 1.2-2 cm. Filaments basally connate into a ca. 5 mm tube; staminodes filiform. Ovary glabrous; style ± as long as sepals. Capsule oblong, ca. 3 mm, membranous. Fl. Jun-Sep.

Forests, thickets, mountain slopes, along trails; 1200-3200 m. SE Xizang (Mêdog), Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India].