花莲铁苋菜 hua lian tie xian cai

Acalypha hontauyuensis H. Keng.

Shrubs, ca. 3 m tall. Branchlets pubescent. Petiole 8-20 cm, pilose; leaf blade ovate, 10-20 × 8-15 cm, slightly papyraceous, abaxially glabrescent, vein axils bearded, base obtuse, subtruncate to subcordate, margin crenate or subentire, apex caudate-acuminate; basal veins 5. Plants dioecious. Only female flowers known. Female flowers subsessile, 1 in each bract; spikes axillary, 10-25 cm; peduncle 1-5 cm; bracts lax, ovate, ca. 1 mm, pilose; sepals 3, ovate, ca. 1 mm; ovary 3-locular, pubescent; style 2.5-5 mm, laciniate. Capsule 3-locular, ca. 4 mm in diam. Seeds ovoid, ca. 2 mm. Fl. Jul-Aug.

● Near seashores, thickets; below 100 m. Taiwan (Hualian, Lan Yu).