泰山母草 tai shan mu cao

Annuals, 3-10 cm tall. Stems erect, quadrangular, branched, nodes 3 or 4, internodes increasing in length upward. Branches few, ascending. Petiole short; leaf blade ovate to narrowly ovate, 3-7 X 2-4 mm, glabrous, base rounded to broadly cuneate, margin entire and short strigose, apex obtuse. Flowers axillary, solitary or in short racemes. Pedicel slender, 0.5-2 cm, sparsely short strigose to subglabrous. Calyx tubular, 3-4 mm, outside sparsely short strigose, shallowly lobed; lobes triangular-ovate. Corolla purple; lower lip 3-lobed; upper lip emarginate. Stamens didynamous, anterior ones with a curved clavate appendage. Capsule ellipsoid, nearly as long as persistent calyx. Seeds yellowish, globose. Fl. and fr. Oct.

* Shandong (Tai Shan).