木里香茶菜 mu li xiang cha cai

Plectranthus muliensis W. Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 12: 218. 1920; Rabdosia brachythyrsa C. Y. Wu & H. W. Li; R. chionantha C. Y. Wu; R. muliensis (W. Smith) H. Hara.

Shrubs 1.5-3 m, much branched. Branches sub-cylindric, brown, sparsely gray, pubescent; branchlets dark brown, densely gray pubescent. Petiole 1-5.5 cm; leaf blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 5-11 × 2-6 cm, papery, adaxially rugulose, glabrous, gray pubescent on veins, abaxially sparsely yellowish glandular, gray tomentulose especially on veins, base broadly cuneate, abruptly attenuate, margin crenate-dentate, apex ± acuminate, lateral veins 5-paired. Panicles spikelike, terminal and axillary, 2.5-7 cm, densely gray pubescent; cymes (3-)6-8(-11)-flowered; floral leaves bractlike, very conspicuous, lower ones larger, obovate, apex mucronate; upper floral leaves narrower, acuminate, ca. 1 cm. Calyx campanulate, 2-2.5 mm, densely pilose; teeth ovate-triangular, ca. 1/2 as long as calyx, white ciliate, apex acute; fruiting calyx campanulate-tubular, dilated to 4.5 mm, slightly curved. Corolla yellow-white tinged red, or white bluish, to 8 mm, sparsely pubescent, tube slightly longer than to as long as limb. Stamens included. Style included. Nutlets unknown. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Oct.

* Thickets on hilly slopes, thicket margins, forests, streamsides; 2300-3300 m. Sichuan (Muli Xian).