补血草 bu xue cao

Statice sinensis Girard, Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., ser. 3, 2: 329. 1844; S. fortunei Lindley.

Herbs, perennial, 15--60 cm tall. Taproot red-brown; bark never peeling. Caudex often thickened; stems many from 1 crown. Leaves basal, persistent to anthesis; petiole wide; leaf blade obovate-oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 4--12(--22) X 0.4--2.5(--4) cm including petiole, base attenuate, apex usually obtuse to acute. Inflorescences 3--5(--10) from the same leaf rosette, ascending to erect, corymbose or paniculate, main axis 4-angular and 4-sulcate; sterile branches few, simple, on basal part or at forks of rachis; spikes with 2--6(--11) spikelets, axis 2-angular; spikelets 2- or 3(or 4)-flowered; bracts ovate, 2--2.5 mm; first bractlet 5--5.5 mm. Calyx funnelform, 5--6(--7) mm; tube ca. 1 mm in diam.; limb white, 2--2.5 mm wide, 3.5--4.5 mm in diam.; lobes apically obtuse to rarely acute. Corolla yellow. Fl. Jun-Nov (N of Chang Jiang) and Apr-Dec (S of Chang Jiang).

Wet sandy and salty shales adjacent to the ocean. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hebei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Vietnam].