石海椒 shi hai jiao

Kittelocharis trigyna (Reichenbach) Alefeld; Linum cicanobum Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don; L. repens Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don; L. trigynum Roxburgh (1799), not Linnaeus (1753); Macrolinum trigynum Reichenbach; Reinwardtia trigyna (Reichenbach) Planchon.

Shrubs, to 1 m tall. Branches gray, glabrous. Petiole 0.8-2.5 cm; leaf blade elliptic to obovate-elliptic, 2-8.8 × 0.7-3.3 cm, papery, base cuneate, margin entire or crenate, apex acute to subrounded and with an apiculate tip. Flowers 1.4-3 cm in diam. Sepals 0.9-1.2 × ca. 0.3 cm, distinct. Petals yellow, 1.7-3 × ca. 1.3 cm, distinct but basally confluent. Stamens ca. 1.3 cm; anthers ca. 2 mm; staminodes subulate. Styles 3 or 4, 0.7-1.8 cm. Capsule globose, splitting into 6 or 8 mericarps. Seeds reniform. Fl. and fr. Apr-Jan.

Forests, mountain slopes, thickets, along trails, ravines, often in calcareous soil; 500-2300 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Kashmir, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam].

This species is grown as an ornamental. The branches and leaves are used medicinally.