笄石菖 ji shi chang

Plants perennial, tufted, (8--)10--65 cm tall. Stems erect or ascending, terete or compressed, 0.7--3 mm in diam. Basal leaves few, cauline leaves 2--4; leaf sheath auricles obtuse, short; leaf blade linear, terete to compressed, 10--25 cm × (1--)2--4 mm, distinctly and perfectly to incompletely septate, apex obtuse, acute, or acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, sparingly or much branched; involucral bract leaflike, shorter than inflorescence; heads 5--10(--30), globose to hemispheric, 7--10 mm in diam., (3--)8--15(--20)-flowered; bracts 2--2.5 mm, broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, thinly membranous. Perianth segments narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 3.5--4 mm, subequal, veins longitudinal, apex acute. Stamens 3, inserted opposite outer perianth segments; filaments 1.2--1.4 mm; anthers 0.9--1 mm. Stigmas very long, often recurved or sinuous. Capsule narrowly prismatic, 3.8--4.5 mm; angles prominent, acute; placentas not or only slightly intruded, hence fruit 1-loculed. Seeds wax yellow, oblong, 0.6--0.8 mm, regularly longitudinally ribbed; transverse veins faint, remote. Fl. (Jan--)Mar--Jun, fr. May--Nov.

Forests and trail sides on mountain slopes, wet grasslands in sparse forests, thickets, fields, marshy places, swampy river banks, streamsides, sink holes; near sea level to 3000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia, Pacific Islands (New Zealand)].

This is a widespread and polymorphic species.