火焰花 huo yan hua

Justicia curviflora Wallich, Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 9. 1831.

Shrubs 3-6 m tall. Petiole 1.5-5 cm; leaf blade elliptic to oblong, 12-35 × 9-18 cm, abaxially puberulent along veins, adaxially glabrous, secondary veins 12-17 on each side of midvein, base broadly cuneate and decurrent onto petiole, margin entire to subcrenate, apex acute to acuminate. Thyrses terminal, 14-18 × 6-8 cm; cymes (1-)3-5-flowered. Pedicel 5-12 mm, densely tomentose; bracts subulate to lanceolate, 3-7 mm; bracteoles subulate 2-3 mm. Calyx 6-11 mm; lobes subulate to lanceolate, subequal, outside sparsely pubescent, inside densely brown tomentose. Corolla purplish red, 4.5-5 cm, outside densely brownish pubescent and sometimes including gland-tipped trichomes; tube ca. 4.2 cm; lower lip 3-lobed, lobes oblong and ca. 2 × 1.5 mm; upper lip 2-cleft. Stamens slightly exserted; filaments glabrous; anther thecae ellipsoid, 5-5.5 mm, not extending beyond corolla lips; staminodes 2, small. Ovary and style glabrous. Capsule 3.5-5 cm, 8-10-seeded. Seeds 5.5-6.3 × 4.2-4.5 mm, pubescent. Fl. Oct-Feb, fr. Feb-May.

Thickets, forest margins, ravines; 400-1600 m. Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].