绉面草 zhou mian cao

Phlomis zeylanica Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 586. 1753.

Herbs erect, ca. 40 cm tall. Stems hispid-villous or villous-hirsute. Petiole ca. 5 mm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 3.5-5 × 0.5-1 cm, sparsely strigose, densely so on veins and densely yellowish glandular abaxially, base cuneate-attenuate, margin remotely crenate-serrate above base, apex acuminate, lateral veins 3 or 4 pairs. Verticillasters ca. 1.5 cm in diam., subequal, few flowered, sparsely hispid; bracts linear, mostly shorter than calyx tube, apex somewhat spinescent. Calyx tubular-campanulate, slightly curved, basally glabrous, slightly corrugate, sparsely hispid at apex outside, minutely hispid inside, veins inconspicuous, not hispid; mouth oblique, slightly constricted; teeth 8 or 9, spinescent, ca. 1 mm. Corolla white or white with purple spots, ca. 1.2 mm; tube slender, straight, slightly enlarged, densely villous near throat, subglabrous at base outside, villous annulate inside; lower lip ca. 2 × as long as upper lip, spreading, lateral lobes ovate; middle lobe largest, elliptic, undulate on margin. Nutlets chestnut brown, ellipsoid, subtriquetrous, shiny. Fl. and fr. year round.

Seashores, fields, roadsides, sunny waste slopes; 0-300 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan [India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka]

Used medicinally for coughs, toothaches, and abdominal pains.