蚂蚁花 ma yi hua

Shrubs 0.6-1(-1.5) m tall, erect. Stems 4-sided, densely strigose. Petiole 1-4 mm, densely strigose; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, (5-)7-13 × (1.5-)2.5-3.8 cm, stiffly papery, both surfaces densely strigose, secondary veins 2 on each side of midvein, base cordate to obtuse, margin entire and ciliate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, a panicle of cymes, 5-8 cm or longer; bracts leaflike. Bracteoles 2, broadly ovate, ca. 1.3 cm, abaxially midvein strigose and sericeous, adaxially glabrous, margin ciliate. Hypanthium ca. 2 cm, pectinate setose-tuberculate and among calyx lobes, base clasped by bracteoles. Calyx lobes 5, long ovate, as long as hypanthium, both surfaces glabrous, margin ciliate, apex acuminate. Petals 5, pink, white, or rarely purple, obovate, 1.5-2.5 cm, oblique, margin ciliate, apex rounded but apiculate. Stamens 10, inclined to one side; filaments as long as anthers; anthers beaked; connective slightly inflated, orbiculate, shortly spurred. Ovary ovoid-globose, 5-celled, apically densely strigose, apex with a setose ring. Capsule ovoid-globose, ca. 8 × 6 mm, apically densely strigose; hypanthium urceolate, ca. 8 mm, densely pectinate setose-tuberculate. Fl. Aug-Oct, fr. Sep-Dec.

Scrub on mountain slopes, grasslands, open slopes, forest margins, open woods, streamsides, trailsides; 500-1900 m. Guangxi, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam].