五花紫金牛 wu hua zi jin niu

Shrubs to 43 cm tall, with creeping rhizomes, pubescent with irregular peltate scales on young parts. Branchlets terete, 2.5-3 mm in diam., brown scaly, silvery-gray basally. Petiole 3-10 mm; leaf blade obovate, 6-12 × (2.3-)3-4 cm, membranous, glabrous adaxially, covered with brown scales and short hairs abaxially, base cuneate and slightly decurrent, margin entire or subundulate, apex acute or acuminate; lateral veins to 12 on each side of midrib, marginal vein absent. Inflorescences axillary, subumbellate, 8-12-flowered, to 4 cm, rusty brown scaly throughout at least when young; peduncle ca. 3 cm, slender. Flowers white, ca. 3 mm. Pedicel ca. 1 cm, slender. Sepals triangular-ovate, ca. 2 mm, obscurely punctate, base rusty brown scaly, margin ciliate, apex acute. Petals ovate, ca. 3 mm, glabrous, sparsely punctate, apex acute. Stamens ca. 3 mm; anthers lanceolate-ovate, not punctate dorsally, apex acute or acuminate. Ovary glabrous; ovules ca. 12, in 2 series. Fruit ovoid, 5-7 mm in diam., not punctate, glabrous. Fl. May.

* Sparse mixed forests, bamboo woods, dense broad-leaved forests, along streams, shady places, hilly area. Guangdong