耳草 er cao

Herbs, perennial, tufted to weak or procumbent, sometimes (var. auricularia) to usually (var. mina) rooting at lowermost nodes, to 1 m tall or long; stems flattened, 4-angled, or terete becoming angled and/or sulcate, densely hirtellous, hispidulous, strigillose, pilosulous, or puberulent, to sometimes glabrescent (var. auricularia), or glabrous except villosulous to pilosulous and sometimes also hirsute to pilose inside grooves (var. mina). Leaves subsessile to petiolate; petiole to 7 mm, densely strigillose to pilosulous; blade drying subleathery to papery, ovate, lanceolate, elliptic, or elliptic-oblong, 2.2-9 × 0.6-3 cm (var. auricularia) or 1.2-3 × 0.4-1.4 (var. mina), adaxially glabrous or puberulent along midrib or scabrous, abaxially glabrous on lamina and densely puberulent to strigillose or hispidulous along principal veins and margins, base acute to obtuse and sometimes shortly decurrent, apex acute or acuminate; secondary veins 4-6 (var. auricularia) or 2-4 (var. mina) pairs; stipules fused to petiole bases, densely puberulent, strigillose, or pilosulous, sheath 1.5-3.5 mm, truncate to triangular or elliptic, in var. auricularia with 3-9 linear or setiform lobes 0.5-5 mm, often glandular at apex, in var. mina entire and acute to aristate or sometimes with 2 setose lobes to 2 mm. Inflorescences axillary, glomerulate to congested-cymose, 5-12 mm in diam., several to many flowered (var. auricularia) or 2-7-flowered (var. mina), puberulent, sessile; bracts lanceolate to stipuliform, 0.3-2 mm; pedicels to 1 (var. auricularia) or 3 (var. mina) mm. Flowers sessile to pedicellate, distylous. Calyx puberulent (var. auricularia) or glabrous (var. mina); hypanthium portion obconic, ca. 1 mm; limb lobed essentially to base; lobes lanceolate to triangular, 0.8-1.2 mm, usually ciliolate. Corolla white, tubular or tubular-funnelform, outside pilosulous at least on lobes (var. auricularia) or glabrous throughout (var. mina); tube 1-1.5 mm, barbate in throat; lobes 0.5-1 mm. Anthers narrowly oblong, ca. 1 mm, exserted or included. Stigma ca. 1 mm, exserted or included. Fruit indehiscent, globose to ovoid, 1.2-1.5 mm in diam., sparsely hirtellous, hispidulous, or puberulent (var. auricularia), or glabrous (var. mina), sometimes with peduncles and/or pedicels elongating, to 2 mm; seeds 4-12, black, foveolate. Fl. and fr. Mar-Dec.

Forest margins, thickets, grasslands, open fields, streamsides; below 100-1500 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Yunnan [India, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia].

Lower Taxa

• Hedyotis auricularia var. auricularia
• Hedyotis auricularia var. mina W. C. Ko