蛇婆子 she po zi

Waltheria americana Linnaeus; W. americana var. indica (Linnaeus) K. Schumann; W. indica var. americana (Linnaeus) R. Brown ex Hosaka; W. makinoi Hayata.

Erect or ascending subshrubs, up to 1 m tall, multi-branched. Branchlets densely puberulent. Petiole 0.5-1 cm; leaf blade ovate or long elliptic-ovate, 2.5-4.5 × 1.5-3 cm, both surfaces densely puberulent, base rounded or shallowly cordate, margin serrulate, apex obtuse. Inflorescence cymose, capitate,
axillary; peduncle nearly absent to 1.5 cm. Epicalyx lobes nar-rowly lanceolate, ca. 4 mm. Calyx tube-shaped, 5-lobed, 3-4 mm, lobes triangular, much longer than tube. Petals yellowish, spatulate, apex truncate, slightly longer than sepals. Filament tube enclosing ovary. Ovary sessile, puberulent; style inserted obliquely; stigma fimbriate. Capsule obovoid, ca. 3 mm, hairy, 1-seeded, enclosed by persistent calyx. Seed obovate, very small. Fl. summer-autumn.

Weed. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan [pantropical].

Waltheria indica is sometimes grown as an ornamental and is used medicinally.