江城沿阶草 jiang cheng yan jie cao

Stem erect, rarely prostrate, elongate, 2.5--4 mm thick, covered with sheaths and with a few woody, striate, densely pubescent roots 3--4 mm thick. Leaves in distant tufts 5--7 cm apart, 4--14 per tuft, indistinctly petiolate (petiole 1--10 cm), adaxially deep green, abaxially gray-green or whitish streaked, long linear, 5--35 cm × 4--8(--11) mm, papery, base attenuate, sheathing, margin membranous at base, apex acuminate. Scape arising from an apical leaf axil, deep violet, 8--20 cm, slightly compressed, furrowed. Inflorescence a reduced panicle, 4--12 cm, 20--60-flowered; bracts ovate-lanceolate, basal one 1--2 cm. Flowers in clusters of 2--5, campanulate, 8--11 mm in diam.; pedicel 6--8 mm, articulate near middle. Tepals pale violet, ovate, 4.8--5 × 3--3.2 mm, apex slightly revolute. Filaments 0.2--0.3 mm; anthers narrowly ovate-deltoid, 3.5--4 × ca. 1.5 mm, free. Style 4--4.5 mm. Seeds pale violet at maturity, ellipsoid, 7--10 × 5--7 mm. Fl. Aug--Sep, fr. Oct--Feb.

* Forests; 300--1300 m. S Yunnan (Jiangcheng Hani-Yi Zu Zizhixian).

This species is similar to Ophiopogon siamensis M. N. Tamura (Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 49: 27. 1998), from N Thailand, but differs in having longer bracts and shorter filaments and style. Ophiopogon siamensis has bracts less than 1 cm, filaments 0.7--1.1 mm, and style 5--5.4 mm. Further studies are needed to ascertain whether or not these two species are really distinct.