球序卷耳 qiu xu juan er

Herbs annual, 10--20 cm tall. Stems simple or caespitose, densely villous, distally glandular pubescent. Proximal leaves spatulate; distal leaves obovate-elliptic, 1.5--2.5 × 0.5--1 cm, base attenuate into a short petiole, both surfaces villous, midvein prominent, margin ciliate. Inflorescence of compact, cymose clusters (glomerules); rachis densely glandular pubescent; bracts leaflike, ovate-elliptic, densely pubescent. Pedicel 1--3 mm, densely pubescent. Sepals 5, lanceolate, ca. 4 mm, abaxially densely long glandular pubescent, margin narrowly membranous, apex acute. Petals 5, white, oblong, subequaling or slightly longer than sepals, base pilose, apex 2-lobed. Stamens shorter than sepals. Styles 5. Capsule cylindric, subequaling or 1.5--2 × as long as calyx, 10-toothed. Seeds brown, compressed triangular, tuberculate. Fl. Mar--Apr, fr. May--Jun.

Forest margins, mountain slope grasslands, sandy riversides; 100--3700 m. Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shandong, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [cosmopolitan weed].