长苞刺蕊草 chang bao ci rui cao

Herbs erect, 0.5-2 m tall. Stems green or brown when dry, strigose, slightly dilated at nodes. Petiole obsolete to 6 cm; leaf blade ovate, 5-10(-13) × 2-6(-7) cm, papery or ± membranous, adaxially strigose, abaxially strigose along veins, base cuneate-attenuate, margin double serrate to double crenate-serrate, apex acuminate; lateral veins 3-paired. Spikes 1.5-7 cm × 8-9 mm, terminal and axillary, interrupted or continuous, pedunculate; verticillasters ± secund; peduncle 0.5-2 cm, densely strigose; bracteoles ovate-lanceolate, elliptic, to ovate, 3-4 mm, strigose or sometimes glandular. Calyx subtubular, 3-4 mm, strigose, sparsely glandular outside; teeth narrowly triangular, subequal, or 2 smaller, ca. 1/3 as long as calyx tube, strigose inside, ciliate. Corolla reddish, subequal to slightly longer than calyx; upper lip minutely hirsute outside. Stamens bearded at middle. Style almost as long as stamens. Fl. Jul-Nov.

* Streamsides, grasslands; 1500 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan.