夜花蝇子草 ye hua ying zi cao

Elisanthe noctiflora (Linnaeus) Ruprecht; Melandrium noctiflorum (Linnaeus) Fries.

Herbs annual, 30--50(--90) cm tall, densely shortly pubescent. Primary root slightly lignified. Stems erect, simple or sparsely branched, apically glandular hairy. Basal leaves long elliptic-obovate, 5--11 × 2--4 cm, both surfaces villous, midvein and lateral veins prominent, base attenuate into short petiole, half clasping, apex acute; distal leaves subsessile, narrowly elliptic or lanceolate. Dichasial cymes few flowered, glandular hairy; flowers bisexual, ca. 1.5 cm in diam. Pedicel erect, shorter than calyx; bracts lanceolate, glandular hairy. Calyx tubular, 2--2.5(--3) cm × ca. 5 mm, glandular hairy, inflated and ellipsoid at late anthesis, slightly constricted at apex; longitudinal veins 10, violet, reticulate; calyx teeth narrowly lanceolate, 8--10 mm. Androgynophore ca. 2 mm. Petals ca. 2.5 cm; claws slightly exserted beyond calyx, narrowly oblanceolate, glabrous, auricles triangular; limbs pale pink, yellowish below, obovate, ca. 6 mm, deeply bifid to 1/2 to 2/3 of limbs; lobes entire or slightly erose, inrolled at daylight; coronal scales ovoid, small, 2--4-toothed. Stamens included; filaments glabrous. Styles 3, slightly exserted. Capsule ovoid, 1.5--1.8 cm, shorter than calyx. Seeds dark brown, reniform, ca. 1 mm. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Jul--Aug. 2n = 24.

Grasslands; 1300--1800 m. Xinjiang (N of Tian Shan) [Kazakhstan, Russia; SW Asia, Europe].